BEAUTY INDUSTRY AND SELF-ESTEEM

by Stephanie Camargo
Have you ever looked in the mirror and hated what you saw? It seems like every young
girl dreams of becoming a model these days. Body image is the mental picture that each person
has about their own physical appearance (Buggey, 2007). It is how the person sees herself and
how they felt when they look at the mirror by this it is how the person is believed to be looking.
For several years the media such as television, magazines and the internet affects the body image
on adolescents. Social media is a very strong influence on the population especially for
adolescents who are identified with certain models or actors appearing in the media. In an effort
to look as close to their idols, adolescents try to many methods for example start doing diets,
exercise or renew their wardrobe. But there are others who resort to more drastic means as
practiced any physical surgery, diets or excessive exercise and sometimes unfortunately this can
end triggering some kind of eating disorder such as bulimia or anorexia.
As seen in figure 1, it reflects the standards of
society regarding what is or should be the ideal
woman. To achieve this ideal, women perform
other behaviors such as making physical activity,
restricted to lunch, etc. Due to the great
importance given, in fulfilling these requirements
to achieve that perfect figure, her self-esteem is
sometimes really affected when compared to the
model established by the media. One of the
results is that in addition to low self-esteem and
leads to frustration.
According to Golan, M., Hagay,
N., and Tamir, S. (2014). Body image has
become one of the main factors for social
acceptance. I believe today the media affect both
physically and psychologically teenagers because
when you talk about fashion, food,
and accessories, the media is responsible for
publishing whether commercial as ads or magazines, thin models such as attracting them only
the physical person so they can be fashionable, and so adolescents can be accepted in society.
There are many cases of self-esteem on teenagers because of social media happening
around the world. I, for example, at the age of fifteen, experienced a low self-esteem and all I
wanted is to be skinny. I am a dancer and as a dancer almost everyone thinks that we must be
skinny so that we can look pretty when we dance. As I read magazines I remember seeing all
those pretty girls and thinking to myself that I would never be as successful as other dancers who
had the "ideal dancer's body. I started doing diets but I did not get any eating disorder but my
self-esteem was very low.Social media causes a big impact on adolescents as they start growing
up.
Building a strong self-esteem is important for adolescent girls, but many adolescents have
trouble understanding how valuable they are to society. Us as a community should stop telling
adolescents how they should look and support them on what they need. Social media should stop

making the ideal girl and they should focus more on these topics because there are many
adolescent who die or suffer everyday from a low self-esteem.
References
Buggey, T. (2007, Summer). Storyboard for Ivan's morning routine. Diagram. Journal of
positive behavior interventions, 9(3), 151. Retrieved december 14, 2007, from Academic
Search Premier Database.
Golan, M., Hagay, N., & Tamir, S. (2014). Gender related differences in response to In favor of
myself Wellness Program To Enhance Positive Self & Body Image Among Adolescents,
9(3), 1-9. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0091778