by Mikalyn

Created on: October 27, 2008   Last Updated: November 06, 2008

"You're Only Popular with Anorexia." Tori Amos

My neighbor recently got plastic surgery. She was 25, drop dead gorgeous and could make men crumble with a snap of her fingers but always felt that she was lacking in the second base region. Do you think that at twenty three my mother knew someone who had breast implants? I don't think so, and neither did any other woman now in their sixties. The obsession with body image is certainly not new to history, but that combined with the momentum that our ultra-high speed, catch it while you can, better be one step ahead attitude and our intensely dense commercial orient makes a new kind of cocktail. It's stiff, doesn't go down smooth and hurts the next morningkinda like getting breast implants.

The topic of this piece of writing is Teen Body Image and the Media, and I think that before we start to think about them we have to be honest with ourselves. It's hard to stay positive period. It's not impossible and its worth all of the effort but warring with negative society can give you a sore heart; at times that much is guaranteed and ignoring it feels apathetic. It's important to know how to slow down, take a breath and step outside of a situation or a world that is making you feel undesirable or ostracized. Think about how you might achieve that; it's valuable advice for a teen struggling with warped body image. Looking at the world through the mainstream media is like seeing it through strange beer goggles that make everything wildly exaggerated and over dramatic; you've got to stay grounded.

The media is good at providing our teens with all kinds of delectable role models. Some have frosting and others have cherries but whatever your style theirs a flavor and she's a normal teenage girl except that when she's not at school she's secretly a huge pop music star. Lets be good role models for our children. Lets be good role models for our children. Sorry but as I wrote that "you can say that again" seemed to echo within my brain. I would imagine that should our nation's young girls and boys saw us as good role models more often than it would greatly improve all of the warped images kids have about themselves. Images sent to them through the mainstream media as well as peers and even adults in their daily lives.

The age old saying "you live and learn" serves us well in a society where there are no boundaries, no limitations and no ground rules. Sometimes, it's just going to take good old fashion experience for us to wrap our minds around things. Especially when considering body image since it's so hard to keep perspective on something so personal. Kids will do what they will do and it may not be what you did as a teen. It could be unflattering or even a little strange and scary to parents who don't really understand. It's important to let them experiment and learn through living. I spent a year slathering on enough black make up to make a drag queen jealous; it only took time for me to realize that it wasn't necessary.

All in all, just try to stay balanced. Talk with your teens, tell them how you maintain under the crushing pressure of today's on-demand world. Let them hear that but be open to what they may think helps them cope and remember; BE A GOOD ROLE MODEL!

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