How media makes girls hate themselves

Despite what they may be taught at home, adolescent girls soak up what the mass media reinforces as ideals for young women. According to Kilbourne in “The More You Subtract, the More You Add,” advertisements, especially in magazines targeting teenage girls, emphasize physical beauty and thin bodies and suggest that maintaining physical attractiveness will bring girls control and success in their lives. In “Who(se) am I?,” Perry explains that the physical standards for African-American women are different from the thin, pale models idealized by white Americans. African-American women are often compared to singers and celebrities with curvy hips and a round butt, big breasts, but thin arms and legs; It is a different body-type, but much of the same struggles exist for young women trying to emulate these models. Self-hatred is common among adolescent girls, and according to Kilbourne, some ads are “intended to arouse anxiety and affect women’s self-esteem” (262). On one hand, media is encouraging women to be independent, but at the same time they are restricted by their diets, exercise routines, and other efforts necessary to maintain their “ideal” appearances. Kilbourne described the effect of many ads that encourage women to stay quiet and let their appearances speak for them and have an impact on others. This idea is common in makeup ads, perfume ads, and clothing ads and it teaches young women that their thoughts and intelligence are insignificant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mc-9fbrrHJ0&feature=related
I wouldn’t consider this Old Navy commercial a negative influence on adolescent girls, but it does reinforce certain ideals for young women. Each of the models in the commercial is slender and flawless, and they portray young women as delicate and innocent or playful. The models appear almost childlike as they hide in the curtains, skip up the stairs, and dance around the room. The commercial may encourage young women that to be feminine by being silly and flirty to attract attention, as well as to strive for the thin figures of the models.