The media’s influence has a negative impact on the self esteem of adolescent girls. Girls, at the age of 11-18, are heavily influenced by the media. As quoted by Meghan Trainor; “With social media, with Instagram and selfies and all these apps that are trying to make you look perfect, It’s hard for girls to grow up nowadays with all that stuff.” She presents the media as a heavy influencer on growing girls and their mindset. The media causes the depletion of a young girl’s self esteem, they portray: women to be skinny and thin and unrealistic success. As well as disabling an adolescent girl’s social health. Overall, media’s influence causes negative impact on all young girl’s self esteem. Without care, the media can destroy a young girl’s mindset, body and herself.
The ‘ideal’ unhealthy image of a woman to be forced into an adolescent girl’s mindset caused by the media, challenges the self esteem of all young girl’s. All around the internet are unhealthy images of women and the ideal image they portray as well as articles of becoming thin. This pressures young girl’s to become an ‘ideal’ image themselves. Destroying the mindset of the adolescent girl, they begin to adapt to becoming thin. This causes unhealthy habits and thoughts to occur, such as: the counting of food intake, exercising to an extreme extent and emotionally feeling unstable with their body. This can harm the body and self esteem of any young girl’s, they will then adopt illnesses that includes: anorexia, depression and bulimia. The media’s negative impact causes an unhealthy addiction to becoming thin further demolishes the self esteem of adolescent girls.
Secondly, media’s impact portrays the unrealistic success of people’s lives emphasises on the attack of young girl’s mindset. The depiction of unrealistic success of becoming rich or someone they aren’t are everywhere within the internet. Young girls become pressured to enhance themselves to become someone they are not. This causes their mindset to change into one that isn’t theirs. Looking on to one’s life, a young girl can envy another, this causes inflict on their peers and health. Their jealous mindset shatter’s their health, this becomes a struggle to maintain their health by causing young girl’s to depict their lives as miserable and unlucky to live in as comparison to lives of others. Thus making media a negative impact on the young mindset of girls.
Thirdly, the impact of media attacks the person social health of adolescent girls. Texting online and sending messages becomes a daily way of communication. This reduces the time spent to go out and socialise and talk to other people. Destroying the ability to be able to talk and communicate in person, which can also break relationships as they are not paying attention to their real life relationships. With the lack of communication, girls can become an easy target to bullying. Both on the internet and off the Internet, a young girl can be made fun of due to her inability to socialise. This can cause any young girl’s mental and emotional health to decrease, making her more insecure of herself. Thus allowing herself to become weaker and easier to bully. As a result, the media’s impact can cause an adolescent girl’s social health to diminish into an ability she lacks, further impacting on her self esteem and mindset of a growing girl.
However, although the media has a negative impact on young girl’s self esteem, boys can also be influenced. Similarly, boys can also be pressured by the media’s influence. Boys and girls are not different from each other, they are children with developing mindset. Just like girls, boys can become emotionally attached to their body image. There are many pictures of the unrealistic image of men showcased throughout the internet. This can affect young boy’s mindset alike a young girl’s mindset. As well as depicting the unnatural success of men, by the images and articles presented on the media, harms a boy’s mindset to becoming someone they aren’t. Furthermore, the depletion of am adolescent boy’s social health. Becoming addicted to the media, impacts boys social health continuing to destroy the ability to communicate with other children. Hence the media’s impact of young boy’s self esteem and girls.
Consequently, the negative impact on the self esteem of girls caused by the media is overwhelming. The media becomes a platform of self hate, jealously and time consuming of one’s growing body. They communicate the unhealthy idealistic body for people as well as enforcing the unrealistic of success, by spreading images and posts. Otherwise, using media as a mean to communicate, depletes one’s social health. The media has a strong and negative impact on adolescent girls and boys. Societies should be aware of this, and help prevent a growing child’s mindset to be stained by the media.
