Teens
In the Media
Advertising
Teenagers are bombarded with advertisements everyday. An average american views 3,000 advertisements a day and spends 3 years of their life only watching TV commercials. These ads mainly focus on telling their viewers who to be and how to be it. Growing teens take these advertisements very seriously and this can have a negative effect on their lives.
Appearance & Perfection
- The media sends out the message to teens that they need to be perfect.
- They are surrounded with the ideal beauty from a young age. Teens are told that they need to look like perfection through TV commercials, toys, shows, and subliminal messaging in Disney movies.
- They are taught to not act their age. Girls need to have a slim, sexy figure while guys need to be tough and aggressive.
- Advertising tell little girls that what's most important is how they look. They are told they need to spend enormous amounts of time, energy, and money achieving this ideal look and to feel ashamed and guilty when they fail.
- Failure is inevitable because the ideal is based on absolute flawlessness
- The model herself isn't even able to achieve this look without the help of Photoshop
- Perfect face & perfect slim, curvy body.
- She never has any lines, wrinkles, and certainly no blemishes or scars
Sexualizing Teens
- In recent years, mainstream media has increasingly traded in the sexualization of young teens.
- We see teen models captured in seductive poses that draw attention to their bodies. They are encouraging and sending out the message that young teens should not act their age. They should mature and grow up much quicker to look like this.
- When teens imitate these models repeatedly in media, they are copying a carefully crafted fiction designed by marketers to be consumed as an object.