Do You Need A Reality Check?

This article is written by Katie Elliot, a Peer Advocate for Clinton Youth & Family Service Bureau, following a presentation by the Dove Self-Esteem Fund:

How do I look? I am fat. I hate my hair! These are the common words heard out of a teenage girl’s mouth every day.

We are all guilty of complaining about how we look and the complaining is unhealthy.

We look at CoverGirl and Glamour magazines and see what we want to look like: perfect skin, bigger breasts, skinnier bodies, and nicer hair.

However, most importantly, FAKE. Do we want to be fake? If you look close enough at the images of models and celebrities all “made up” they look sickly and sometimes disproportionate.

Personally, I believe it is best to be natural, make up is okay once in a while for special occasions or just if you feel like it a couple days but too much makeup is not necessary and everyone is perfect the way they are.

Shockingly, many boys also look at “hunks” and see the muscle they want. Unfortunately for men muscle is not always genetically possible, and so they sometimes resort to drugs and steroids.

Self confidence is found in looks now-a-days and because most people are not satisfied by how they look there is an insufficient amount of self-confidence in teenagers today.

Seven in ten girls have low self esteem. These girls that have low self esteem actually have a “thinking disorder” and eventually that can lead to an eating disorder.

The issue is just as large as sexual behavior as a teenager because the media is now approaching the issue. “Make it or Break It” is a series on ABC Family that shows teenagers the consequences of having an eating disorder. Girls who do gymnastics, like the character with an eating disorder in the show, or ice skating or modeling work themselves to the edge so that their career will not be jeopardized.

At the same time ordinary teenagers who just do not feel right about themselves cannot even go to school feeling good. These girls also get to a point that they do not even feel good enough a daughter for their parents.

I’d say that a reality check is needed for these girls. Instead of looking at a magazine and being jealous of the girls or guys, because we all do it, look at a picture for a little bit longer and with a critical eye and see that these people do NOT actually look like that or they even look unhealthy.

Teenagers do not need to try to be fake in order to be beautiful and accepted. Last I checked “fake” did not fall along those lines.