Topic > Assessing whether there is excessive pressure on girls to have perfect bodies

Girls today face pressure and expectations from society. They are constantly worried about numerous posts and images of overwhelming, thin and beautiful women. With the advent of social media, the pressure to dress well, wear heavy makeup, pose and upload flawless, filtered photos to attract multiple likes is a potential source of insecurity. Our generation faces unattainable aesthetic pressure to be perfect. With pressure from their parents, especially mothers, who notoriously pressure their daughters to lose weight, social media depicting what is beautiful through "retouched and unrealistic models", and the acceptance and approval of their peers , they force these girls to go to extremes just for the purpose of losing weight.” Now it's up to girls to look a certain way to feel accepted and attractive to millions of people. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Parents can have a strong influence in the education and support of their adolescent children. According to Ricciardelli and McCabe state in their article "Who Thinks I Need a Perfect Body" that "mothers have consistently been found to act as social reinforcers and role models for attitudes toward body image among adolescent girls" . Therefore, mothers are often critical of their daughter's weight or their own, which leads to a negative impact on their daughter's body image. Even if they are careful to tell their adolescence positive things, mothers' attitude towards themselves is passed on to their children. These comments can lead one to believe that they are not worthy unless their weight is within a certain range. On the contrary, the role of fathers in relation to their daughter's body dissatisfaction does not seem to have a great influence. McCabe informs us that "studies show that fathers tend to give positive messages." This is because some fathers are very influential and encourage a positive body image in their daughters, which accompanies them for much of their lives. Social media has had a huge influence when it comes to body image among teenage girls. We live in a world that has allowed the media to portray the ideal body. Many girls are coveted and many celebrities post altered and airbrushed images of themselves giving the younger generation a false image of what their typical body looks like. Samantha Levine, deputy press secretary, says she "was moved by stories of little girls wearing shapewear and undergoing plastic surgery to improve their appearance." Furthermore, the pressure to have a perfect body has hit these girls the hardest as they want to improve their appearance by “choosing to go under the knife”. Plastic surgeon Michael Salzhauer, also known as Dr. Miami, agrees that social media has had "a huge influence on the rise of cosmetic surgery among young people." He believes "they're doing it because they see themselves on social media from different angles alongside models like Kylie Jenner and Kim K." Many celebrities are bombarding teenagers' social media feeds with countless selfies, especially Kim K, who is known for flaunting her voluptuous figure to the world. These girls follow her every day in her movements by undergoing surgery to get this particular body and just tend to keep up and look like everyone else. Peer pressure and body image have had an effect on how girls perceive themselves./