Society has created its own idealistic image of beauty over time. All our lives we have been trained to view beauty in a person by their height, skin color, and weight. Our animosity has caused us to compare ourselves and others to an image of an adept person.


As our world has become more media exposed, people are able to view and come in contact with society’s opinion on how they should be. Everyone is born into a culture with a system of view, including the ideal body image. This has become more of a system to keep people in line, to cause them to feel oppressed and want to change themselves. People go to great lengths to look and be like the models or celebrities they look up to. Media advertise products with, or on, these ideal people. The average American woman sees 400-600 advertisements in one day. Today’s fashion model weighs 23% less than the average woman. Body images critics are thrown at women all the time. Headlines show things such as “Beauty Secrets” or “Hot or Not”. Women everyday look at far too skinny models and overly tan celebrities that “embody” this perfect image we are trained to want.


Teenagers and young women have been the most affected by the idea of a perfect body. As young women grow and mature they usually feel uncomfortable with their body as society keeps them fear stricken that they will become overweight and “undesirable” to the opposite sex. Only 2% of women asked in the United States find themselves “beautiful.” Teenage body image is affected by many sources such as family environment, skin color, abilities or disabilities, attitude of peers, media and advertising, and the fashion industry. Teens are at risk of developing a negative body image if they are influenced by family, teased at school, have low self-esteem, are overweight, belong to a subculture, or have a physical disability. As a teenage girl myself, I felt very self-conscious all of my freshmen year. I felt that I was overweight when in reality, I was underweight. I even went to the extent of skipping meals and only eating once a day in an attempt to be thinner. I started to become very weak and sick by the middle of my freshmen year and soon would have to become hospitalized for severe migraines due to the stress I had caused to my own body and mind. I felt like I just wanted to be comfortable in my own skin. As I enter my sophomore year now I have become comfortable with myself. I have realized that no matter how I look, I will always have my true friends.

School has had one of the largest effects on how teens see their body image. Students become exposed to a large number of people and body shapes as they go to school. Some receive teasing for how they are shaped, what color their skin is, or how their hair is. Some of this teasing, or bullying, has led to discrimination, violence, self-harm, and even suicide. Even when at home students are not safe from the idea of a perfect body, media has advanced and become a large part of their daily lives. Students used the internet and see advertisements of people with the perfect body image. They have become blinded from what is really there by what society wants them to see. Many go to unhealthy lengths to obtain a body that society would want by skipping meals or using harmful methods to tan their skin.

This image of a perfect body has been embedded in our mind. In reality, there is no way to get rid of this idea, but if we all work together and become more understanding we can rid ourselves of this prejudice. Every person is different and it is ok to look into a mirror and find something you like about yourself instead of things you don’t like. It is beneficial to be aware of advertisements and what they are really trying to convey and not to be blinded by it. Knowing that over-exercising and over-dieting are unhealthy ways to lose weight. It is also good to be aware that most advertisements of models are changed to appear more appealing. Healthy eating can help to give someone a healthy skin tone and healthy hair in a safe way. It is our choice each morning to get up and look in the mirror to see our differences and love them. Only we can feel good about ourselves and in the end having a good opinion about yourself is the only opinion that really matters.

A person is not defined by their inches, their tone, or their pants size. You are not a number, you are a person. Every person is different. It is not what you don’t like about yourself, but what you do like about yourself. It is all these differences that make you who you are. These differences are the things that make you human. Only you can stop the idealism of your own body, but together we can stop the idealism of each other.