Sexual Objectification Of Music Videos And How Adolescents Are Affected Essay

Furthermore, media surrounds teenage girls in today’s culture. It is impossible to escape the sight of media. The media’s constant idealistic beauty is ever present to a vast amount of self-conscious girls. This image of beauty causes girls to have low self-esteem (Clay, Vignoles, and Dittmar). Media defining this perfect body image causes many adolescent girls to feel dissatisfied with their bodies and become depressed. “Viewing ultra-thin or average-size models led to decreases in both body satisfaction and self-esteem in adolescent girls aged eleven to sixteen, with changes in self-esteem fully mediated by changes in body satisfaction” (Clay, Vignoles, and Dittmar).

Teenage girls are at an impressionable time in their lives. Mass Media is a key idea in one of the factors of socialization that become important to teenagers. Teenagers look to the media for a sense of entertainment. Whether it is movies, magazines, or even some aspects of social media, teenagers get a lot of influence from the media’s message. The problem with this is the media has a specific way of doing things and can be negative to a susceptible teenage girl. Media’s way of portraying a woman can be skewed and unrealistic way from what reality is. Teenage girls then have a desire for this look or way. In this essay the three ways I will describe as to why the media can negatively affect a teenage girls body image is by showing

In a recent survey done by the National institute on Media and the Family, fifth graders, ten year old boys and girls told researchers they were dissatisfied with their own bodies after watching a music video by Britney Spears or a clip from the TV show “Friends.”(4) If this isn’t shocking enough, the research group reported that at the age of thirteen, fifty-three percent of American girls are “unhappy with their bodies.” This grows to seventy-eight percent by the time the girls reach seventeen. Also, eating disorders are beginning to start at an alarming young age. Statistics show that girls are developing eating disorders at the age of six.(1) Young girls that are exposed to appearance focused television programs, and magazine shows feel that they need to look like the models that they see. Most of these girls are not even have fully developed bodies yet and are already trying to perfect themselves. One girl had even shared how one of her best friends discovered that her fifth grade cousin was bulimic. Girls at that age should not even be concerned with their bodies yet and eating disorders being developed is a harsh wake up call as to how young girls everywhere are being effected by the media each and everyday.

Women are seen through the eyes of the music industry as little more than sex objects; causing them to feel of no worth, leading to extremely dangerous long term mental illnesses and eating disorders. Music lyrics/video is a key source of messages that advocate and encourage drinking, smoking, drug abuse, sexuality, sex-role stereotyping, sex and violence. Exposure to music videos, has also been correlated with early uptake of sexual activity. (AMCA, 2014)

Music is an integral part of youth culture. Ever since the introduction of music videos in 1981 on MTV, music and music videos have gone hand-in-hand (McIntosh & Pavlik, 2004, p. 94). The effects of music (particularly hip-hop) on youth have been subject of research and controversy. There has been an increasing concern that hip-hop culture has become profoundly influential on young people’s views of sexuality.

As a middle school student, I was oblivious to the unrealistic portrayals in the media, but I was not able to escape its harmful grasp. It seemed every girl at the school suffered with body image issues because their perception of beauty is what they had been taught by society. Anorexia and bulimia were far too common, while self-esteem and confidence were very hard to find. Not only were the girls trying to become “beautiful,” they were also trying to act older than they were. Starting at the extreme, drugs, alcohol, and sex seemed normal; far less extreme were the excessive amounts of makeup, skimpy outfits, and usage of the proper slang. These girls were merely doing what the media had taught them; they were being, or trying to be,

There has been a growing trend of hypersexualization of women over the span of all forms of media. The women within these images are made to look perfectly flawless. They are extremely thin without a trace of fat or cellulite to be found. The people who consume this media are exposed to the idea that the women they are observing are models for true physical beauty. These standards are accompanied by an alternate message from the media that pushes the idea that women’s value comes from their beauty. While some women may understand that the messages about the ideal woman are unrealistic and false, it is found that adolescent girls are vulnerable to the media’s strategies due to their lack of media literacy as well as the search for their own identity during this developmental stage in their lives. The exposure to these standards of beauty can have several negative effects on the girls such as lower self-esteem, higher body dissatisfaction, depression, and eating disorders. SPARK and 4 Every Girl are two of a growing number of campaigns that are working to fight against the sexualized images of women in the media and the negative effects it can have on the viewers.

It is in the interest of everyone to be concerned about how sexualization is changing our current society, most of the change occurring with young girls. Young girls are like sponges soaking up the sexual messages and images given to them by the media, advertisers, and their mothers. The impact of this early sexualization can be found in studies, it is not good. Although girls become sexual as they age without influence, the influence from the media, advertising, and self-objectifying mothers persuades girls to become more sexual. It is a problem that can be altered with proper teaching, a healthy body image, and a confident attitude.

Approximately 14 million U.S. teenage girls don’t like how they look. The number of women who feel confident in their bodies is dwindling quickly and is being fueled by edited pictures they are comparing themselves to on social media. The Time magazine article “How Social Media Is a Toxic Mirror” by Rachel Simmons tells of the risk for everyone to feel self-conscious about their bodies. However, those most at risk are teenage girls who spend a significant amount of time on any form of social media. In response to the article, I agree with the negative effects social media has on the body image of teenage girls because I have seen girls trying to change their bodies. I also see the effects logos and pathos have on the strength of the article and what would make it a stronger and more credible source for information on teen body image.

“Research in the USA suggests that around 40% of adolescent girls are dissatisfied with their bodies. Amongst UK samples, 48% of 9- to 12-year old girls were dissatisfied with their body shape, with 22% reporting they were too fat, and 50% of girls aged 11-16 reporting body dissatisfaction” (Halliwell, Easun, Harcourt 396). It is clear that body discomfort has become a real problem for girls of all ages all around the world. Young girls are much more vulnerable when it comes to body image. They can see an image and not realize that it is not realistic. Once they are exposed to the false depiction of a beautiful woman, that is what they want to look like and will do anything to get there. Since children at a young age are exposed to media and it is all around them, this problem has

On a regular basis ,one comes across some form of media, or communicates with one family or friends at least once a day. It is normal; however, who fail to see how much sexualization of young girls have incremented, and still continues to do so in media, and how it affects society. The trend toward the sexualization of girls is increasing in the contemporary culture and can negatively impact girls (Choate and Curry). Awareness on girl sexualization in the United States must be a raised because it negatively affects young girls well-being, hinders their academic potential, and jeopardizes their safety.

We live in a media-saturated world especially, in western society that provides a significantly influential context for people to learn about body ideals and the value placed on attractiveness that influences the way they perceive themselves. Media invades our lives through television, radio, magazines, newspapers, cinema, advertisements and internet and is very influential on vulnerable adolescents who cannot distinguish what is real and what is not Lopez-Guimera, Levine, Sanchez-Carracedo, & Fauquet, (2010). Mass media contributes to the promotion of the thin ideal as a way to achieve social approval, recognition, and success; in addition, it promotes dieting and food restriction as a socially agreeable practice. In America, body dissatisfaction has reached normative levels among girls and young women. Approximately 50% of girls and undergraduate women report being dissatisfied with their bodies, these perceptions begin at an early age of 7 and exist

As society is progressing, body image is ever changing. Now more than ever, we are witnessing different body types being displayed in popular media. Despite these advances, advertisements and other media platforms continue to push unrealistic and damaging body images on both men and women. Beginning in childhood, young girls and boys are influenced by the distortion and objectification of body image. Girls are taught that the most desirable body is one that is thin and proportioned (Helgeson, 2016). As they age, many girls begin distorting their own self-image when body changes occur during puberty. For example, many girls are upset by the onset of breasts and excess body fat in other places such as the butt, thighs, or stomach areas. This upset and discomfort during adolescence is influenced by the way that the female body is portrayed to the public. For boys, this can also occur. In movies and advertisements, the ideal male body is described

Teenagers today are being influenced by many different aspects such as peer pressure, friends, school, music, and many other aspects. One negative aspect is today’s music videos are explicit and unfit for teenagers today because they portray and send messages to them that may lead them astray from the appropriate attitude that they need. Teenagers tend to imitate what their social environment thinks is cool. Some probably think that rap music is cool, but very rarely can you find a rap video that does not promote negative messages such as criminal activity, sexual behavior, drugs, sex, or even cursing. Teens often believe from these “role” models in these music videos that they are watching is the cool way of doing things.

A study was done to explore the effects of short exposure to appearance-related media on young girls’ body image. Some writings/studies has suggested that girls at the age of 6 and older are experiencing problems with their body, or body dissatisfaction (Dohnt & Tiggemann, 2005). Some researchers are even saying that girls as young as 5 are having problems with their body image. There is some evidence that suggests that young children are aware of being thin or the “thin ideal” that exists in today’s society. Researchers are focusing on the information underneath