Youth Development

» Susan Carney - Media coursework

I talked about these topics in "Models, Teens, and Self-Esteem," and also in my pieces on Advertising. I definitely think that advertising and media impact how teens (both boys and girls) see themselves. To answer your second question would require more info than I can write here, but basically, I think that when a largely unrealistic image is presented as the only "acceptable" image, that has to effect self-esteem. Teens today are often materialistic and insecure because they have been conditioned to think that they have all these flaws that they require products to fix. They have been taught that buying things will make them happy. They believe they are simply not good enough. I think many teens make up their own minds about a lot of things, and that is a wonderful thing, but I think media influences all of us, whether we realize it or not. You might want to check out some books I have enjoyed on this topic: "Deadly Persuasion", by Jean Kilbourne, which is chock full of stuff about advertising and it's impact on women and girls; "The Body Project", by Joan Jacobs Brumberg, which traces the history of women's focus on appearance to the point where our bodies have become our own personal all-consuming "projects"; and "The Beauty Myth", by Naomi Wolf, about how women are pressured by our culture to look a certain way, whether we choose to or not.