Synthesis Essay

The stick-thin women and muscular macho men that are popular in the media affect the way teens perceive their own body images. When there are barely any normal sized people shown, then what are teens supposed to think about their own bodies? The statistics on teen's and even young children's dieting are alarming.
Television, magazines, advertisements, and movies "have, since World War 2, increasingly held up a thinner and thinner body images as ideal for women" (source B). By viewing these images, girls get the wrong idea about how they're supposed to look and sometimes take drastic measures to try to fix their non-existent weight problem. Even 40% of girls as young as 9 and 10 years of age "have tried to lose weight, according to an ongoing study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute" (source B). It has also been reported that "at age thirteen, 53% of American girls are unhappy with their bodies" (source B). Most of high school students complain about their bodies too--even the 90 pound, super-thin, muscular cheerleaders call themselves fat when they are nothing but skin and bone.
In source D, two teens are seen discussing their weight. When they decide they will no longer talk about their weight, they absolutely have nothing to talk about! We live in a world obsessed with body image and looks in general. "In a study on fifth graders, 10 year old girls and boys told researchers they were dissatisfied with their own bodies after watching a music video by Britney Spears or a clip from the TV show Friends" (source B). Even young boys have become obsessed with their body image! In a study conducted by The University of Toronto, it was suggested that "one out of every six people who qualified for a full or partial diagnosis of anorexia was male" (source E). The unrealistic bodies of men can be seen especially while shopping in the mall. For example, take a stroll into Abercrombie (the children's clothing store). The models are sickeningly muscular and extraordinarily beautiful. "Men are more likely today to be swayed with depictions of thickly-packed muscular torsos, visible ripples of abs, and narrow waists" (source E).
I believe that a major part of the reason people shop in places like Abercrombie is because of the bodies selling the clothes. "Women--and their body parts--sell everything from food to cars" (source G). It's true, who wouldn't want to buy a hot sports car with an even hotter model sitting seductively on the hood?
In a world where perfection is becoming the norm, actions should be taken to chance teens' minds. We should place more normal actresses and actors on TV, and stop using hot bodies to sell products. We need to tell the young children that starving themselves does not make them beautiful, and we need to tell the public that being healthy is much more important than being thin.