The first statistic that really stood out to me was that 53% of thirteen year old girls are not happy with their bodies. When girls reach 17 that number increases to 78%. Thinking back to when I was a thirteen year old girl I remember already thinking about getting a nose job. I had been teased about my nose constantly and I wanted to have that perfect nose that every girl had in the media. Growing up I have always been tiny. I was blessed with a fast metabolism, but the media once again portrayed perfect skinny girls in every movie. I started to run, do sit ups, push-ups, run some more to get that perfect body. Weighing 114 now, I recently had a friend ( not anymore) tell me that I looked like I was getting fat! Its so sad that boys these days compare girls to the girls they see on the television. They think we are suppose to be these flawless creatures with the nicest clothes , dressed like we are heading to a club when we are supposed to be going to school to get our education. The movie "Mean Girls" released in 2004 portrayed three girls that were like every other girl in movies, skinny and fake. The new girl who dressed as herself didn't pay attention to the "popular" crowd was soon transformed to be part of the "Mean Girls". It is just crazy to me how the media wants our young girls to grow up and think is the best way to present themselves.
Leading to my next comment that stood out was that by the time a girl is a teen they are spending $7,000 a year on beauty products. At this age a girl should be spending or saving that money on things like education or a car. The media influences girls enough to where spending money on beauty products becomes more important then paying for books, or car payments. This brings me to a disagreement on a girls part though, because a girl needs to decide on what she wants in life and as hard as it is to resist the nagging media and achieve their goals in life and to fight for their rights. We have a choice on how we let the media influence us, we just have to find the courage that I know is within us to stand up for what is right.
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