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Celebrity Image and the Effects on Youth Essay Example

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Celebrity Image and the Effects on Youth Essay Example
To what extent are young people influenced by celebrity image?

‘The models that everyone claims are beautiful, the spitting image of perfection, are any of them fat? NO!’ (Quote from Anonymous, Pro-Ana Thinness Addiction online blog, 2011)
This particular blog has had over 11 million hits since publication, and although not everyone that reads it would agree with the views, it only takes a couple to be influenced by the text. It’s an unnerving thought knowing that a minority of the youth think in such extreme ways, placing unhealthy body images on such a high pedestal as something to aspire to. This essay will study how far the influence of celebrity images affects the youth, looking further into eating disorders caused by the individual’s perception of what is beautiful and whether or not celebrities and the mass media are fully to blame for influencing young people in harmful ways. Is it always negative or can celebrity image ever be a good influence? Can these Role Models help the youth with confidence and self-esteem issues?

The influence of the celebrity image and the affect it has on the younger generations has been an issue for quite some time. But just how much truth is behind the accusations thrown at the celebrities for encouraging unhealthy lifestyles and body image? Heilman (1998) wrote about 14 years old ‘Kara’, who, during personal turmoil, started to idolise the model Kate Moss (‘so cool, I wanted to be like her, under control’). ‘Kara’ took her idolization too far, and wanting to look like Moss, she started dieting. With a girl as young as ‘Kara’ this was obviously not a healthy lifestyle and eventually her dieting progressed further and she was diagnosed as anorexic. The physical and mental affect on the youth as well as adults can be rather dangerous, where self consciousness can quite easily progress into depression and eating disorders as shown by ‘Kara’. Unfortunately the case of ‘Kara’ isn’t uncommon as 1 in 1000 women in the UK
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