Download - Our Rock Project

Intro Voiceover:
All around us, there are media influences telling us what to wear, what to look like,
and who to be. Visual media is based on an unrealistic image of what society
considers to be “perfect.” The most common image is long blonde hair, blue eyes,
and a thin figure. These visuals cause people of all ages, especially teenage girls, to
feel like they’re not good enough and that they’ll never fit into the society ideal.
More than 90% of girls ages 15-17 want to change at least one aspect of their
physical appearance, with body weight ranking the highest. 7 in 10 girls believe
they are not good enough, especially in the way they look. We interviewed
psychologist Mandy Mader about the true effects of media in our society.
Interview:
Well, I think like anything it can be positive and negative. You know, in music
videos, on TV, in magazines, everywhere you look, on the internet, and there’s
such emphasis on appearance. You know in reality, the average American woman
is a size 14, not a size 2, and you know beautiful bodies come in all shapes and
sizes.
Voiceover:
American society has a skewed view of what is considered beautiful. One example
is the popular Barbie doll, an iconic image of the American ideal. As this image
shows, if Barbie were a real person, she would have impossible proportions. Her
neck’s abnormal length and width would make Barbie incapable of lifting her
head. Her waist would be 16 inches, which is smaller than her head, allowing room
for only half a liver and a few inches of intestine. She would be incapable of lifting
anything with only 3.5 inch wrists. And lastly, Barbie would have to walk on all
fours, with 6 inch ankles and children’s size 3 feet. Despite all of this, there are still
millions of teenage girls striving to achieve this unrealistic goal.
Voiceover:
We asked our classmates what they perceived to be the perfect image portrayed by
the media and how they felt about it.
Classmates:
The “perfect” image on social media would be…
Skinny, tall…
Blonde hair, blue eyes…
Perfectly wavy, or perfectly straight hair…
Nice skin…
Someone white…
Slim and really healthy…
Wears makeup…
Caucasian…
Flat stomach…
Smooth hair…
Long, skinny legs…
Thigh gap…
Acne free…
And then you’re just like, “Oh… well…” So, a lot of girls, they just want to look
like that person. And it just makes you feel less than them, and it makes you feel
like, “Oh wow, I have, like, flab, and I’m not like that, so I’m not pretty.” People
would look at it and be like, “Oh, I wanna be just like her, I wanna be just as
skinny as her.” Many girls… they try to look like Barbie dolls, and just like these
extremely fake people so they can be popular.
Voiceover:
According to the National Eating Disorders Association, or the NEDA, “American
children engage in increasing amounts of media use, a trend fueled largely by the
growing availability of internet access through phones and laptops.”
Classmates:
Definitely a lot of teenagers have social media. We use social media so much in
our lives. Like, everyone probably spends like a good two or three hours on social
media every day. There’s hardly any teens that don’t have some form of
communicating with their friends online.
Interview:
body image, is a huge problem also in terms of
adolescent mental health. It can contribute to anxiety, and depression, and eating
disorders. And, you know, especially eating disorders are not uncommon, and I
think that kids seeing that ideal is not helpful. There are many reasons that a person
will have an eating disorder, but one of the images are the cultural messages that
are, impossible to... reach.
Classmates:
Because everyone is always concerned about their popularity. The more followers
you have, the more popular you are. It affects not only your physical health, but
your mental health. They’re skinny, and you think you’re not. Like, maybe you
are, but you see them and wanna achieve that level of perfection. So you just
maybe don’t eat or something, and that turns into anorexia and bulimia. And then
you just wanna be, like, prettier like them. That can affect people’s eating habits
because they would try to get… they would try to become skinnier. It really just
influences what they do and what they think and how they view themselves. So
you’re kind of, like, learning you know how to like manipulate sort of people’s
ideas of you. And I think, sometimes, it’s a bit selective, and you kind of try to do
things so that people, you know, like you or on social media like your posts. A lot
of teens, it’s mostly girls, but they feel like the only way that they can be popular
and that people will like them is if they look like that perfect woman. They feel
like if they don’t look like that person, then nobody will like them. You’re always
looking at yourself and comparing yourself to that perfect image. And you’re never
gonna be just okay with yourself; you’re always gonna be, um, undermining
yourself and comparing yourself in a negative way.
Interview:
You know, especially in middle school but still in somewhat high school, but in
middle school there's a lot of pressure to dress a certain way and judgments are
made about kids. You know, I think I was looking at Vanity Fair and, you know, it
was very skinny, very scantily clad models -- male and female. It didn’t make me
want to run out and buy the product but, you know, advertisers keep doing that.
The women you see on the magazine covers, it’s an impossible ideal to reach. I
mean they literally can stretch out the necks, stretch out the thighs, as well as, you
know, the airbrushing and the lighting and the makeup. So it's an impossible ideal,
but it's held up as, you know, something to emulate. As well as
sometimes the lack of women and kids of different cultures. We’ve gotten a little
better at that, but you'll still see mostly blondes on the magazine covers. And, you
know, I think it does a lot of harm to kids when they feel like, “Oh, I’m not
that cultural ideal,” when in fact it's an impossible ideal. You know I think this is a
very important discussion to have about media, and journalism, and popular
culture, because it is changing so rapidly and our, particularly our kids are very
sensitive and vulnerable, and we need to really be aware and on top of how that's
affecting them, for you know,
the positive and the negative ways.
You know, it’s all over, and we
just need to admit it and
work it through and and try to see each
person for the human being and individual
that they are. It would be great if we just more
accepted people for who they are, and not how they look
and what they wear, and that sort of thing.
Classmates:
Media makes me feel…
Annoyed.
Inferior.
Entertained.
Confused.
Inferior.
Overwhelmed.