When you see "beautiful women" on television, what do they generally look like? Media is taking the image of the people they put on their shows a little too seriously in my opinion. Think about it, the majority of the girls on all the popular television shows are tall, really skinny, the typical supermodel hot sexy woman, not the geeky down to earth girl. I'm not saying its all a bad thing, but when you put girls that look that way on tv, it makes alot girls feel really self-conscious about their looks, and some go to the extreme with eating disorders and such, then the doctors wonder why, but what do they do to stop it, or anyone for that matter?
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It makes total sense.
Girls with lower self-esteem want to look "beautiful" so that they'll get a barrage of compliments and hope that they self-esteem goes up.
In reality, it doesn't really work that way. Girls may get the compliments, but it doesn't really do much for the self-esteem. If anything, it leads to the conditions that you described before (anorexia, etc.)
Society is telling girls that "you have to be this way in order to be accepted by mainstream culture", and the "this way" is basically unattainable for the average teen.
This is also true for boys, with the "be tough, be masculine" thing .. but it's usually not as extreme or as high of an incidence as in girls.
I'm glad someone agrees with me and isn't afriad to say it! I hate it when all the skinny popular girls at school deny it saying its not true at all and they're accepting of everyone, its just hurting us as a society and we need to change things or its only going to get worse!
I don't think it has to do as much with low self-esteen as it does with the urge to conform to society and fit in. They are afraid of being rejected and will do anything to keep their place in society, whether it has to do with the want to stand out to be the best looking or to be normal so you don't stand out. The human mind in so complicated. It makes me wonder sometimes.
I think that the low self-esteem contributes to the desire to fit in.
People who are more confident in themselves and in their individuality have a lower drive towards conformity.
I'm quite satisfied with my body. Who wants to spend their life lifting weights when they could be lifting french fries? ^_^
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If a society is willing to give freedom for temporary security, they deserve neither.
It's not always about looks, but one much also consider health.
My point is the media makes it seem like its all about looks with the type of women and men that occur on these shows most often.
HAHAHA Xbot!! If only life were that simple. The thing left out of this post so far is that even these skinny, supermodel women are self concious. I think it would be even worse to have that beauty because you would be sooo pressured to keep it up. Many of these women are anorexic/bulemic as well.
Society has always been focused on the pretty people. The criteria change over time, but we have always lauded beauty. It's almost a freak of nature to be beautiful, perhaps that is why so much emphasis is placed upon it. You can study to learn and excel mentally. But for beauty, you have to possess a natural tendency towards good looks in order to acheive them. Sure, you can exercise to thin yourself out, but things like bone structure and height can't be changed.
And instead of accepting one's biology and living it up regardless, people spend their time on trying to use technology and chemicals to "look better."
the "geeks" as you say are not always the object of low self esteem, what about the girls that dress weird to get attentioin. i mean i think that i am ridiculed but i really don't mind. people with low self esteem need to find something they love and care about that more than what others think!
♥ Helena ♥