Easy, Breezy, Beautiful!
When you hear the word makeup there could be thousands of brands that may pop in to a customer’s head to try. This is why Cover girl cosmetics tries to make a statement with the products they sell. From foundation to eye shadow, mascara and lip gloss, Cover girl cosmetics have came out with millions of new makeup products for teenage consumer. Cover girl cosmetics comes out with make up for all buyers: dry skin, oily skin, sensitive skin, dark eyes, light eyes, long eye lashes and short eyelashes, they cover it all. A Cover girl advertisement is known for the actresses, colors, and slogans used in them. They care a lot about the set up of their advertisement because they want to know that they will be able to target the right audience. The biggest consumer for Cover girl is teenage girls around the high school level, ages twelve and up. This is because Cover girl is not an expensive brand; it is cheap enough where the girls feel comfortable enough testing it on their face for an affordable price. Cover girl is known as a “start out” makeup, for teenagers who are just starting to experience with makeup.
Famous actresses, black and white ads with one standout color, and a big bold heading which says COVER GIRL is what catches a young teenager’s attention while flipping through a hip new magazine. Cover girl comes out with new products just about every two months, and with that they always have the same ad layout while advertising the fresh new product. Their ads always seem to use three colors black, white, and a bold highlight color. Also on the ad there will always be a famous actress, they usually update their actresses every six months; the actresses they chose are always good role models and never have any skeletons in their closets. In the past they have used role models such as Rihanna, a popular music artist and Halley Berry, a famous actress. The actresses they choose pertain to teenage girls so it catches their attention to look at the ad in the magazine. Cover girl is also very famous for their slogans on their ads that always stay the same on all ads. For example when they advertise mascara it is always, “Big, Bold, Look at me lashes!” Cover girl also has a slogan that goes on all of their ads that is very famous which is, “Easy Breezy, Beautiful Cover Girl.” The Cover Girl ads always go in to details about how the new product that they have come out with is different from others that they have previously put out. These steps are what make Cover Girl products such a popular item for consumption for teenage girls.
When flipping through a magazine it is common to see famous actors and actresses on different pages, but when there is a big bold title that says Cover girl it really catches ones attention right away just because of how big this brand has gotten. The ad that I picked out right away caught my attention because of the one stand out color that they used throughout the advertisement, bright highlight neon orange. Cover Girl made their ad for mascara a two page ad, which was creative thinking by the creator of it and it also makes sense for placing the ad in a magazine, only because this way they knew that the ad they had put in the magazine would not be competing with any other ads next to it. With bold letters and bright colors the ad set up was quite eye catching.
At the top of the first page it says Cover Girl in big bold bright orange letters that a reader could not miss. You can tell they were trying to keep it simple because the rest of the first page is in black and white with a picture of their spokes model for their product who is Drew Barrymore. This picture of Drew Barrymore really brings out her long curled up eyelashes which is demonstrating their new mascara. At the bottom corner of the ad it says there slogan for mascara that is quite catchy for people to remember, “The Next Big Thing? Big, Bold, Look-At-Me- Lashes.” On the second page of the same ad for mascara, there is a big picture of the mascara brush, because, this is what they have changed about their product this month. Again they decided to use the bright neon orange color and next to the brush it states “New Lash blast, Volume Blasting Mascara.” All of these letters were bold which was different because it makes a reader want to read what is different about the product made this time. When you look at the bottom of the second page there is a little display of the whole mascara container, demonstrating to the reader what it looks like this way you would be able to recognize it and know what to buy at the store. Right next to this small bottle of mascara they give some facts about the product and what has changed.
Cover girl knows how to word things when it comes to their advertisements. The way they had expressed the information provided in this ad was very interesting because it is all in words that are crazy and fun to say they are also a sure in to catch a teenager’s attention. You notice that the product is Cover Girl because it is in large, bold bright orange letters at the top of the page and you know they are selling new mascara because they have a huge picture of it on the side of the advertisement. The term used to describe the mascara “New Lash Blast” is very unique to hear and it makes the ad more fun and hip to look at. Blast is a word that is exciting while reading the ad a reader would want to see why the new mascara is so exciting. All of the words in the ad are capitalized and for the words that they really wanted to stand out they bolded so people could really tell their strength to the advertisement. Having the neon orange color on black and white really makes you look twice at the ad, they did this because it is the color of the bottle of mascara being sold so they know that this color will be unforgettable while shopping for the product.
What was Cover Girl trying to say exactly in this advertisement? They are trying to advertise that when you use Cover Girls new lash blast mascara every lash gets singled out and coaxed up. It also tells you that they also have it in different styles, like, waterproof, this way you can keep it on while you are swimming and not have to worry about it run. They also have it in four different colors: very black, black, black brown, and brown. This ad also gives you the website to visit so you can see the product up close. While readers visit the website there are different activities that can be done. For example, there is a spot on the website where you can demonstrate colors, where you just had to drag the mouse over one of the colors being sold in that product and it gave you a larger view of what color to expect from the makeup. Having the website on the ad page also gets people to look at their other products being sold so they might get interested in buying other accessories for example, foundation, eye shadow, lip gloss, and eyeliner, as well as their new mascara. Cover girl is usually giving out coupons for their products so you can save money and or buy more of their products. They also get involved with a lot of contest and sweepstakes where you can win a lot of cool free products just for visiting their website which is a way to get people to visit it more often.
The result in this message is when you wear Cover Girl mascara and other products by them your makeup will look as good as Drew Barrymore’s in the advertisement being shown. They want the reader to know if they use Cover Girl mascara their eyelashes will be big, bold and beautiful, they will standout to impress everyone. The ad explained to the reader why the new mascara makes your eyelashes standout more just because they changed how the bristles work on the brush. With hundreds of competitors out there competing with Cover Girl, they do an amazing job with keeping their prices low and always updating their products, this way there is always something new for everyone to try and be excited about. It is like one of their most famous slogans out there… Who wouldn’t want to make their eye lashes easy, breezy and beautiful? I know I would!
Monday, March 31, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Easy, Breezy, Beautiful: Part 2
Famous actresses, black and white ads with one standout color, and a big bold heading which says Cover Girl is what catches a young teenager’s eye while flipping through magazines. Cover girl comes out with new mascara just about every two months, and with that they always have the same ad layout while advertising the fresh new mascara. There ads always seem to use three colors black, white, and a bold highlight color. Also on the ad there will always be a famous actress, they usually update their actresses every six months; the actresses they chose are always the ones that pertain to teenage girls so it catches their attention to look at the ad. Cover girl is also very famous for their slogans on their ads that always stay the same which for advertising mascara it is always, “Big, Bold, Look at me lashes!” Cover girl also has a slogan that goes on all of their ads that is very famous which is, “Easy Breezy, Beautiful Cover Girl.” The Cover Girl ads always go in to details about why the mascara is different from others that they have previously put out. These steps are what make Cover Girl mascara such a popular product for teenage girls.
The ad that I picked out caught my attention because of the one stand out color that they used, bright highlight neon orange. Cover Girl made this ad two pages, which was creative thinking by the creator and it also makes sense for placing in a magazine because this way you know that the ad you are putting in will not be competing with any ads next to it. The ad set up was quite eye catching. At the top of the first page it says Cover Girl in big bold letters bright orange letters. Then the rest of this page is in black and white where there is a huge picture of Drew Barrymore (there spokes model at the time) which really brings out her eyes lashes demonstrating the new mascara. Then in the bottom corner it says there slogan “The Next Big Thing? Big, Bold, Look-At-Me- Lashes.” On the second page there is a big picture of the mascara brush because this is what they have changed this month about their mascara and next to the brush it advertises “New Lash blast, Volume Blasting Mascara.” Then there is a little display of the whole mascara container showing what it looks like so you know what to buy at the store and it describes all the small detail about it.
The way they had worded the information provided in this ad was very interesting because it is all in words that are crazy and fun to say they are also a sure in to catch a teenager’s attention. You notice that the product being sold in the ad is Cover Girl because it is in large, bold bright orange letters at the top of the page and you know they are selling mascara because they have a huge picture of it on the side of the ad. The term used to describe the mascara “New Lash Blast” is very unique to hear and it makes the ad more fun and hip to look at. It also makes you want to read more in to it because you want to see what it really means. All of the words in the ad are capitalized and for the words that are really important are bolded so that they also really catch the reader’s attention. Having the neon orange color on black and white really makes you look twice at the ad because it looks really interesting and makes you wonder what they are selling.
What was Cover Girl trying to say exactly in this advertisement? They are trying to advertise that when you use Cover Girls new lash blast mascara every lash gets singled out and coaxed up. It also tells you that they also have it in different styles like waterproof, this way you can keep it on while you are swimming and not have to worry about it run. They also have it in four different colors: very black, black, black brown, and brown. This ad also gives you the website to visit so you can see the product up close. While visiting the website I noticed how they had a spot where you can demonstrate colors where you just had to drag the mouse over one of the colors it sells in and it gave you a larger view of what color to expect from the mascara. Having the website on the ad page also gets people to look at their other products being sold so they might get interested in buying other accessories for example, foundation, eye shadow, lip gloss, and eyeliner, as well as their mascara. Cover Girl is usually giving out coupons for their products so you can save money and or buy more of their products and they even get involved with a lot of contest where you can win a lot of free cool things for just visiting their website which is a way to get people to visit it more often.
The result in this message is when you wear Cover Girl mascara and other products by them your makeup will look as good as Drew Barrymore’s in this ad. They want the reader to know if they use Cover Girl mascara their eyelashes will be big, bold and standout to impress everyone. The mascara makes you eyelashes standout more just because they changed how the bristles work on the brush. With hundreds of competitors out there competing with Cover Girl, they do an amazing job with keeping their prices low and always updating their products so there is something new for everyone to try and be excited about. It is like one of their most famous slogans… Who wouldn’t want to make their eye lashes easy, breezy and beautiful? I know I would!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Easy, Breezy, Beautiful: Part 1
Famous actresses, black and white ads with one standout color, and the heading Cover Girl is what catches a young teens eye while flipping through magazines. Cover girl usually comes out with new mascara just about every two months and they always have the same ad layout while advertising the mascara. There ads always seem to be black and white with an actress on it. They usually get new actresses every six months; the actresses are always the ones that pertain to teenage girls so it catches their attention to look at the ad Cover girl always has a slogan on their ad that always seems to stay the same as well which is “Big, Bold, Look at me lashes!” The Cover Girl ads always go in to details about why the mascara is different from others that they have previously made.
The ad that I picked out caught my attention because of the main color that they used, neon orange. It is a two page ad which makes sense in a magazine because this way you know that the ad you are putting in won’t be competing with any ads next to it. At the top of the first page it says Cover Girl in big bold letters. Then there is a huge picture of Drew Barrymore (there spokesperson at the time) which really brings out her eyes. Then in the bottom corner it says there slogan “The Next Big Thing? Big, Bold, Look-At-Me- Lashes.” On the second page there is a big picture of the mascara brush because this is what they have changed this month about their mascara and next to the brush it says “New Lash blast, Volume Blasting Mascara.” Then there is a little display of the whole mascara container showing what it looks like so you know what to buy at the store and it describes all the small detail about it.
The way they worded things in this ad are very interesting because it is all in words that are fun to say and able to catch a teenagers attention. You notice that the product being sold in the ad is Cover Girl because it is in large, bold letters in orange at the top of the page and you know they are selling mascara because they have a huge picture of it on the side of the ad. The term “New Lash Blast” is very unique to hear and it makes the ad more fun and hip to look at. All of the words in the ad are capitalized and the words that are really important are bolded so that also really catches your attention. Having the neon color on black and white really makes you look twice because it looks really interesting and makes you wonder what they are selling.
What was Cover Girl trying to say in this advertisement? They are trying to advertise that when you use Cover Girls new lash blast mascara every lash gets singled out and coaxed up. It also tells you that they also have it so it is waterproof this way you can keep it on while you are swimming and not have to worry about it run. This ad also gives you the website to visit so you can see the product up close. This also gets people to look at their other products so they might get interested in buying other things as well as the mascara. Cover Girl is usually giving out coupons to there make up as well so you can save money and or buy more of their products.
The result in this message is when you wear Cover Girl mascara your eyelashes will look as good as Drew Barrymore’s in this ad. They will be big, bold and standout to impress everyone just because they changed how the bristles work on the brush. With hundreds of competitors out there with Cover Girl, they do a good job with keeping their prices low and always updating their products so there is something new for everyone to try and be excited about. It is like one of their most famous slogans… Who wouldn’t want to make their eye lashes breezy and beautiful? I know I would!
The ad that I picked out caught my attention because of the main color that they used, neon orange. It is a two page ad which makes sense in a magazine because this way you know that the ad you are putting in won’t be competing with any ads next to it. At the top of the first page it says Cover Girl in big bold letters. Then there is a huge picture of Drew Barrymore (there spokesperson at the time) which really brings out her eyes. Then in the bottom corner it says there slogan “The Next Big Thing? Big, Bold, Look-At-Me- Lashes.” On the second page there is a big picture of the mascara brush because this is what they have changed this month about their mascara and next to the brush it says “New Lash blast, Volume Blasting Mascara.” Then there is a little display of the whole mascara container showing what it looks like so you know what to buy at the store and it describes all the small detail about it.
The way they worded things in this ad are very interesting because it is all in words that are fun to say and able to catch a teenagers attention. You notice that the product being sold in the ad is Cover Girl because it is in large, bold letters in orange at the top of the page and you know they are selling mascara because they have a huge picture of it on the side of the ad. The term “New Lash Blast” is very unique to hear and it makes the ad more fun and hip to look at. All of the words in the ad are capitalized and the words that are really important are bolded so that also really catches your attention. Having the neon color on black and white really makes you look twice because it looks really interesting and makes you wonder what they are selling.
What was Cover Girl trying to say in this advertisement? They are trying to advertise that when you use Cover Girls new lash blast mascara every lash gets singled out and coaxed up. It also tells you that they also have it so it is waterproof this way you can keep it on while you are swimming and not have to worry about it run. This ad also gives you the website to visit so you can see the product up close. This also gets people to look at their other products so they might get interested in buying other things as well as the mascara. Cover Girl is usually giving out coupons to there make up as well so you can save money and or buy more of their products.
The result in this message is when you wear Cover Girl mascara your eyelashes will look as good as Drew Barrymore’s in this ad. They will be big, bold and standout to impress everyone just because they changed how the bristles work on the brush. With hundreds of competitors out there with Cover Girl, they do a good job with keeping their prices low and always updating their products so there is something new for everyone to try and be excited about. It is like one of their most famous slogans… Who wouldn’t want to make their eye lashes breezy and beautiful? I know I would!
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Ad on Gap
My ad that I chose is the gap. The consumer to this ad is people that like to shop there or may be looking for some clean cut work clothes or tees. The Gap is a little more expensive store so most of the time it is people that are wealthier that shop here. The wants and desires are just the clothes that they might like about this store and these items might stand out in the ad they see. Gap has a logo on all of their clothes so everyone knows where its from and everyone wearing it is advertising for them.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Body Image: Final Assignment 2
Body Image
“Did you see her nose job?!” Teenage girls today are able to have surgery on just about anything that they may not like on their body. From boob jobs to lip injections, you can get almost anything fixed for the right price. Teens are so concerned about their own looks and everybody else’s looks that they are willing to pay just about anything for the right change. Body image is sweeping the nation fast; it is becoming one of the most widely discussed topics in the media. Body image concerns are caused by media and peer pressure, which affects a majority of teenage girls today, as shown through higher than average diagnoses of anorexia and bulimia, which lead to numerous health problems that otherwise could be avoided.
Body image is not only the world’s most common cause eating disorder but is defined as a mental image that we form of our bodies and is a simple factor of our self and our own personality. Today, body image is mainly a serious issue for teenage girls around the high school level. Many people do not understand that body image is all psychological, meaning these teenage girls are just mentally imagining their body looking different than it appears in a mirror. When younger girls view themselves this way, it can be harmful, and lead to some strong dangerous emotions which lead them to some dangerous addictions. There are a lot of reasons why girls start worrying about their body. The number one environment that a girl adapts to judging herself is at school. This is because there is a lot of peer pressure at the high school level and trying to impress someone and always look your best is the pass with the “in crowd.” Teens also have problems at home with their parents or sister telling them how to look and what to eat, which can cause a lot of self esteem issues.
Media is one of the largest contributing factors to body image. Ads in magazines, billboards, and on television always have glimmered out teenagers who are nowhere near being the size of an average teenager. Today’s models weigh around twenty three percent less than the average woman. The average model is 5’10 weighing around one hundred and ten pounds but the average woman is 5’4 weighing one hundred and forty five pounds.(Loving Yourself Inside and Out) This shows why this is such a health risk for teenagers. Advertisers place these attractive girls in their ads as an attempt to sell more of their product. A survey was conducted by Teen People Magazine on how girls felt about advertisements. Twenty seven percent of the girls felt that the media pressures them to have a perfect body. Magazines are emphasizing to girls that thinness is beauty, which is not true. A teen diva, pop sensation, and hero to young girls, Ashlee Tisdale, even had body image issues so she recently had gotten a nose job. Tisdale stated that she did it because she has always had trouble breathing out of her nose, so it was about time she had got it fixed. She said she is not for plastic surgery it is just something that she had to do. Tisdale is such a pretty girl and her getting a nose job will only be an example for younger girls. They know now that even if you are pretty there will always be something more to fix.
Peer pressure comes from everyone around, from our parents to our classmates. Peer pressure is most commonly found in a group of friends that are all around the same age group. When one is a different size than the other people in their group, one could feel out of place, and helpless. They start looking at their self in a new light, thinking what they could do to improve their body or maybe get thoughts in their head they may lead to some awful things, for example suicide. Suicidal thoughts are common for someone with a body image crisis; they look at every flaw on their body and basically want to discipline their self for looking that way. A study showed that seventy eight percent of people with a body image disorder said that at one time they had contemplated suicide.
Anorexia and Bulimia are also some harmful illnesses that people come across when they are worried about how they look. These are more common illnesses for teenagers because they are easy things to cover up. Anorexia is an eating disorder where people starve themselves. These people have a serious fear of gaining weight; anorexia causes people to not want to eat in public and not consume large amounts of food in one helping. People who are anorexic usually start hearing voices in their head and they usually give these an identity, even its own name. (Beyond killing us softly) On average a person is supposed to consume 2,500 calories a day; a person who is anorexic will usually consume around 150 calories a day. It is the most deadly of all the psychological disorders. The average age of developing anorexia is fifteen to nineteen years old; around one to five percent of women are anorexic. Twenty percent of people that develop this eating disorder and choose not to receive treatment for it end up dying. People with anorexia can have a lot of medical problems like heart disease, heart failure and kidney and liver disease. They also have high chances of going through depression, anxiety and other psychological problems.
Bulimia is also a dangerous eating disorder where people binge followed by purging. This disorder is usually a response to depression, stress or self esteem issues, or a fear of becoming fat. Having this disorder for an extended period of time the individual will usually experience loss of control over his or her own body. Thirteen percent of high school girls today are bulimic. It is hard to determine whether someone is bulimic or not because they do a good job of covering it up, usually wearing baggy clothing and eating a good meal. Sufferers consume a lot of food in one helping usually up to 20,000 calories. The foods that they usually eat are called “comfort foods” which are sweets. A person with this disorder will usually binge anywhere from two times a day or more. They are most likely to purge twenty to thirty minutes after consuming their food and usually it is when no one is around. Ten percent of people that suffer from this illness will usually die from starvation, have cardiac arrest, or commit suicide.
Avoiding negative body image and these illnesses are fortunately possible. Talking at home is a great way to start letting teenagers know that the way they look is the right way to look. Teenagers need to understand that the models they see in magazines aren’t even perfect and they air brush them to make them look the way they do. People can also change their idea of weight loss to getting in shape and healthier, making up a plan for themselves to work out a few times a week. Informing teens that skipping meals is no help to them at all, it just ends up slowing down their metabolism and their body absorbs more calories than it would have originally taken in may be helpful advice. Taking multi-vitamins every day is also a healthy way to make sure that one is getting all the vitamins they need. Parents are a huge part of negative body image because teens look up to them for advice, so it is important that people are talking in the household about issues that might be going on at school or maybe even in the house.
There are many ways to prevent people from viewing their bodies in negative ways. Media does target a lot of teenagers but if parents help and talk to their kids about how the media plots and explain that they are just trying to advertise better, then maybe teens could look at advertisements in a new way. Peer pressure at school is a hard thing to avoid, but having confidence in oneself and prepping themselves everyday knowing that it will be a good one is a good way to avoid negative thoughts while around close friends that may look different. Anorexia and bulimia are dangerous illnesses that are hard to get rid of once started, they are the antidote to people’s depression and is the cause of many suicides. Avoiding body image problems/ issues is the best answer and it starts at home. Staying healthy and in shape is another great way to avoid it. Plastic surgery shouldn’t be the answer because of the damage it can create with one’s body or even the reputation it might give someone after it is done. Perhaps in the future body image around the high school level will not be such a big deal, and will be less common to hear about. Teenagers already have a lot of things to worry about at their age and appearance shouldn’t be one of them.
Work Cited Page
Wegenstein, Bernadette. Getting Under the Skin. Massachusetts, 2006. 25-28.
Owens, Timothy J., Sheldon Stryker, and Norman Goodman. Extending Self-Esteem Theory and Research. New York: Cambridge UP, 2001. 159-160.
Dinnes, Gail, and Carrol Gilligan, eds. Beyond Killing Us Softly. 26 Feb. 2008.
"Loving Yourself Inside and Out." WomensHealth.Gov. June 2007. Officer of Women Health. 6 Mar. 2008
Homeier, Barbara P. "Body Image and Self Esteem." Teens Health. Apr. 2006. Nemours Foundation. 28 Feb. 2008.
“Did you see her nose job?!” Teenage girls today are able to have surgery on just about anything that they may not like on their body. From boob jobs to lip injections, you can get almost anything fixed for the right price. Teens are so concerned about their own looks and everybody else’s looks that they are willing to pay just about anything for the right change. Body image is sweeping the nation fast; it is becoming one of the most widely discussed topics in the media. Body image concerns are caused by media and peer pressure, which affects a majority of teenage girls today, as shown through higher than average diagnoses of anorexia and bulimia, which lead to numerous health problems that otherwise could be avoided.
Body image is not only the world’s most common cause eating disorder but is defined as a mental image that we form of our bodies and is a simple factor of our self and our own personality. Today, body image is mainly a serious issue for teenage girls around the high school level. Many people do not understand that body image is all psychological, meaning these teenage girls are just mentally imagining their body looking different than it appears in a mirror. When younger girls view themselves this way, it can be harmful, and lead to some strong dangerous emotions which lead them to some dangerous addictions. There are a lot of reasons why girls start worrying about their body. The number one environment that a girl adapts to judging herself is at school. This is because there is a lot of peer pressure at the high school level and trying to impress someone and always look your best is the pass with the “in crowd.” Teens also have problems at home with their parents or sister telling them how to look and what to eat, which can cause a lot of self esteem issues.
Media is one of the largest contributing factors to body image. Ads in magazines, billboards, and on television always have glimmered out teenagers who are nowhere near being the size of an average teenager. Today’s models weigh around twenty three percent less than the average woman. The average model is 5’10 weighing around one hundred and ten pounds but the average woman is 5’4 weighing one hundred and forty five pounds.(Loving Yourself Inside and Out) This shows why this is such a health risk for teenagers. Advertisers place these attractive girls in their ads as an attempt to sell more of their product. A survey was conducted by Teen People Magazine on how girls felt about advertisements. Twenty seven percent of the girls felt that the media pressures them to have a perfect body. Magazines are emphasizing to girls that thinness is beauty, which is not true. A teen diva, pop sensation, and hero to young girls, Ashlee Tisdale, even had body image issues so she recently had gotten a nose job. Tisdale stated that she did it because she has always had trouble breathing out of her nose, so it was about time she had got it fixed. She said she is not for plastic surgery it is just something that she had to do. Tisdale is such a pretty girl and her getting a nose job will only be an example for younger girls. They know now that even if you are pretty there will always be something more to fix.
Peer pressure comes from everyone around, from our parents to our classmates. Peer pressure is most commonly found in a group of friends that are all around the same age group. When one is a different size than the other people in their group, one could feel out of place, and helpless. They start looking at their self in a new light, thinking what they could do to improve their body or maybe get thoughts in their head they may lead to some awful things, for example suicide. Suicidal thoughts are common for someone with a body image crisis; they look at every flaw on their body and basically want to discipline their self for looking that way. A study showed that seventy eight percent of people with a body image disorder said that at one time they had contemplated suicide.
Anorexia and Bulimia are also some harmful illnesses that people come across when they are worried about how they look. These are more common illnesses for teenagers because they are easy things to cover up. Anorexia is an eating disorder where people starve themselves. These people have a serious fear of gaining weight; anorexia causes people to not want to eat in public and not consume large amounts of food in one helping. People who are anorexic usually start hearing voices in their head and they usually give these an identity, even its own name. (Beyond killing us softly) On average a person is supposed to consume 2,500 calories a day; a person who is anorexic will usually consume around 150 calories a day. It is the most deadly of all the psychological disorders. The average age of developing anorexia is fifteen to nineteen years old; around one to five percent of women are anorexic. Twenty percent of people that develop this eating disorder and choose not to receive treatment for it end up dying. People with anorexia can have a lot of medical problems like heart disease, heart failure and kidney and liver disease. They also have high chances of going through depression, anxiety and other psychological problems.
Bulimia is also a dangerous eating disorder where people binge followed by purging. This disorder is usually a response to depression, stress or self esteem issues, or a fear of becoming fat. Having this disorder for an extended period of time the individual will usually experience loss of control over his or her own body. Thirteen percent of high school girls today are bulimic. It is hard to determine whether someone is bulimic or not because they do a good job of covering it up, usually wearing baggy clothing and eating a good meal. Sufferers consume a lot of food in one helping usually up to 20,000 calories. The foods that they usually eat are called “comfort foods” which are sweets. A person with this disorder will usually binge anywhere from two times a day or more. They are most likely to purge twenty to thirty minutes after consuming their food and usually it is when no one is around. Ten percent of people that suffer from this illness will usually die from starvation, have cardiac arrest, or commit suicide.
Avoiding negative body image and these illnesses are fortunately possible. Talking at home is a great way to start letting teenagers know that the way they look is the right way to look. Teenagers need to understand that the models they see in magazines aren’t even perfect and they air brush them to make them look the way they do. People can also change their idea of weight loss to getting in shape and healthier, making up a plan for themselves to work out a few times a week. Informing teens that skipping meals is no help to them at all, it just ends up slowing down their metabolism and their body absorbs more calories than it would have originally taken in may be helpful advice. Taking multi-vitamins every day is also a healthy way to make sure that one is getting all the vitamins they need. Parents are a huge part of negative body image because teens look up to them for advice, so it is important that people are talking in the household about issues that might be going on at school or maybe even in the house.
There are many ways to prevent people from viewing their bodies in negative ways. Media does target a lot of teenagers but if parents help and talk to their kids about how the media plots and explain that they are just trying to advertise better, then maybe teens could look at advertisements in a new way. Peer pressure at school is a hard thing to avoid, but having confidence in oneself and prepping themselves everyday knowing that it will be a good one is a good way to avoid negative thoughts while around close friends that may look different. Anorexia and bulimia are dangerous illnesses that are hard to get rid of once started, they are the antidote to people’s depression and is the cause of many suicides. Avoiding body image problems/ issues is the best answer and it starts at home. Staying healthy and in shape is another great way to avoid it. Plastic surgery shouldn’t be the answer because of the damage it can create with one’s body or even the reputation it might give someone after it is done. Perhaps in the future body image around the high school level will not be such a big deal, and will be less common to hear about. Teenagers already have a lot of things to worry about at their age and appearance shouldn’t be one of them.
Work Cited Page
Wegenstein, Bernadette. Getting Under the Skin. Massachusetts, 2006. 25-28.
Owens, Timothy J., Sheldon Stryker, and Norman Goodman. Extending Self-Esteem Theory and Research. New York: Cambridge UP, 2001. 159-160.
Dinnes, Gail, and Carrol Gilligan, eds. Beyond Killing Us Softly. 26 Feb. 2008
"Loving Yourself Inside and Out." WomensHealth.Gov. June 2007. Officer of Women Health. 6 Mar. 2008
Homeier, Barbara P. "Body Image and Self Esteem." Teens Health. Apr. 2006. Nemours Foundation. 28 Feb. 2008
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