D OES THE M EDIA A FFECT T EENAGE G IRLS ? Shannon N. Felker Mrs. Pugh 1 st Period, Advanced English

o Teenage girls’ focus should be more on their goals and future instead of their outside appearance o The emaciated waif look has caused women to tale-spin into the world of EATING DISORDERS

o For those who do not have perfect bodies, perfect hair, or perfect clothing, these situations can wreak havoc on a teenage girl’s self esteem o The media is what influences girls and women into having eating disorders, causing diseases

o The media has caused an increased obsession in teenage girls and in women, to be thin.

o On television, in magazines and newspapers, we are continually exposed to the notion that losing weight will make us happier and it will be through “ THIS diet plan !”

o Diets are not only for adults but are just as common among teenage girls. Diets make girls feel better about themselves, and feel more confident about their appearance.

o The looks of models now on television and in magazines have a huge influence on eating disorders

o Supermodels in all the popular magazines have continued to get thinner and thinner

o In this photo: Lindsey Lohan & Nicole Richie o Both celebrities suggest their images as looking more appealing

Model agencies have been reported to actively pursue Anorexic models

“Barbie is perfect…”

Most people would be shocked to find out that sex icon Marilyn Monroe wore a size 14!

“Imperfection is beauty…” -Marilyn Monroe

o Along with eating disorders, teenage girls also face depression that some say is caused by the media as well

o Sometimes even talking to friends and family cannot help a depressed teenager get through an eating disorder…

o Depressed anorexic teens often wear baggy clothing to cover up their bodies o Baggy clothing is one of the biggest signs of an eating disorder

o Excessive sleeping, missing school, and bad grades are also symptoms of depression among teenage girls

o Media messages screaming “this is in” may not directly cause eating disorders, but they help to create the context within which people learn to place a value on the size and shape of their body. Which in turn makes your body and mind change dramatically as a teenager.

o With the media influencing young women to eating disorders, these influences cause girls to become depressed because they are going through mental changes o With being depressed comes suicide o Eating disorders are not only physically and mentally dangerous but these diseases are also the cause of many deaths in teenage girls now o These deaths are not always suicide related, some in which are not the girl’s choice. Their disease spreads too far and results to a painful and sad death.

o The shocking mortality rate for Anorexia (higher than for any other psychiatric disorder) is not only due to just starvation and physical deterioration, says new research, but also to sufferers committing suicide in the most violent and determined ways.

o The rate of young girls committing suicide has increased rapidly over the past few years o Young teenage girls are more exposed to ads on television and in magazines than ever before o These ads are the leading cause of problems amongst girls with eating disorders, depression, and suicide

o By the time teens want to get rid of their anorexia disease, it is too late and they are dying and cannot do anything about it…

Which would you rather be?

o There is a lot more stress on young women now than there used to be. All at the same time you have to be smart, successful, beautiful, skinny, popular, and on top of all that happy. o The media has caused teens to want to be like the models they show on television. The desires of teens creates eating disorders among them. o 1 in every 6 teenage girl has an eating disorder. o Some teens take an eating disorder too far and die.

Thank you Shannon N. Felker