Misrepresentation Of Body Image In Pretty Little Liars
As a teenager, you idolize the looks and styles of famous stars relevant to your age group. Many teenagers develop poor perceptions of body image because of this, as most actors who play teenagers are actually in their mid-twenties and sometimes, their early thirties. For example, a very popular television show in my high school years was Pretty Little Liars; actresses who are 27, 27, 29, and 31 played the four main girls supposedly in their freshman year of high school. At this point in a women's life, they have already gone through several developmental phases that render them more socially acceptable in the media than that of a high school freshman. This misrepresentation of teenagers has formed an inaccurate portrayal of what their body image should look like at this specific point in their lives.
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I understand it might be easier to find adults to play these roles or that there is less legal work to deal with if the actress is older than 18 but, at what cost of the mental health of the viewers? Most teen girls do have a distorted body image and believe that they are not perfect enough. With this misrepresentation, it leads to self-talk that becomes detrimental to a young girls self-esteem. "Why can I never look like her?" "I wish I looked as perfect as this girl." This irritates me because 99% of the time it is impossible to look like them because they are most likely ten years older than the viewer watching! The looks that these stars have are from post puberty effects (ability to produce muscle mass, little to no acne) as well as strict workout and nutrition plans. These unrealistic views are what are contributing to an increase in mental health issues in today's youth including eating disorders, depression, and
I understand it might be easier to find adults to play these roles or that there is less legal work to deal with if the actress is older than 18 but, at what cost of the mental health of the viewers? Most teen girls do have a distorted body image and believe that they are not perfect enough. With this misrepresentation, it leads to self-talk that becomes detrimental to a young girls self-esteem. "Why can I never look like her?" "I wish I looked as perfect as this girl." This irritates me because 99% of the time it is impossible to look like them because they are most likely ten years older than the viewer watching! The looks that these stars have are from post puberty effects (ability to produce muscle mass, little to no acne) as well as strict workout and nutrition plans. These unrealistic views are what are contributing to an increase in mental health issues in today's youth including eating disorders, depression, and