Vocal Point: Women may be getting the wrong message

Imagine if everywhere you went, people were telling you the same negative message time after time.

Walking down the street you see a billboard, standing in line at the grocery store you see the message on the magazine covers, walking down the school hallways you hear your classmates talk about it; watching TV, going to a movie – even the Hollywood stars are assaulting you with the message!

Believe it or not, this is happening every day.

The media affects a girl’s self-esteem drastically, and it is constantly telling them how they feel they need to look. This message begins very early, even from when a girl receives her first Barbie doll. A Barbie doll gives a false image of an unattainable body. Nobody has her proportions. It just doesn’t happen.

When we females feel unsatisfied with the way we look, we’ll want to buy whatever beauty product, diet, or plastic surgery that will help us fit that image.

The problem with doing this is that it is an unrealistic image we are shooting for. If the media sent the message that girls and women are perfect just the way they are, advertisers would go out of business because we wouldn’t feel the need for wrinkle cream, diets and boob jobs. It’s their job to make us unsatisfied with our appearance. We are making them rich.

Although it is important to eat healthy to avoid future health problems, it is not important to constantly compare our bodies to the “cookie-cutter image” presented by the media. If we could somehow embrace who we are, accept ourselves as the unique individuals we are, and celebrate our differences, we could start to change the culture’s false view of beauty.

I acknowledge that this is a very difficult goal, but we have to start somewhere. It worries me that my 8-year-old sister is already concerned with her weight because she doesn’t look like Hannah Montana, and it concerns me that many other girls feel the same way.

We can start by accepting other people, as well as ourselves, for who we are. A small percentage of the world’s population should not be able to control everyone else’s thoughts and emotions. We all need to understand that originality is beauty, rather than the unattainable view presented by the media.