Blog Post #6

In today's society the media is used to portray a certain type of beauty to women of all ages through advertisements, television shows, and much more. The category of women that are most strongly affected by the media's portrayal of beauty is the females between the ages of thirteen and twenty-one. This is an important topic because it affects not only females my age but also the same ages as my sisters, cousins, and friends. One good example of the media's presentation of beauty is America's Next Top Model, these women have to be a certain size or they will not survive in the competition. In the media's world (and the modeling industry) size 9 is plus-size when in reality the average woman is a size 14. Pageants, such as The Miss America pageant, also have similar effects on young women. The media presenting beauty through a biased view gives many young women insecurities and negatively affects their psyches. These negative influences lead these women to harm themselves in order to fit in the "that" standard of beauty. Although I believe that the media's presentation of beauty is affecting young women between the ages of thirteen and twenty-one negatively, many people, such as the advertisers themselves, do not see thier portrayal in a negative manner. This topic can and has stirred up many debates on my topic as well as other's that effect it.

I plan to use two readings from the text Mirrors on America. The readings thats I want to use from the textbook are Meet Marnie by Gaby Wood and I Want to be Miss America by Julia Alvarez. I want to use Meet Marnie because it criticizes about how the reality show The Swan effects the contestants (negatively). I have also chosen to use the reading I Want to be Miss America because it talks about the negative connotation that the media puts across to the people. I also plan to use a few some internet resources.

I will start my research with the writings from our text book and see what I develop from that information. After I use all that I can from the book, I plan to research the arguments from both sides of my topic to further support my argument. I hope to find surveys as well as professional research for my topic to better support my topic. This research is important because it affects females my age in all walks of life, it could be effecting my best friend or little sister and myself as well as others need to know the details.

To begin the paper, I will introduce my topic in slight detail. I will introduce my main points as well as firmly establish my thesis in my introduction, like all good introductions should. I want my paragraphs to go in an order that will flow nicely but still emphasize my point. I think that to best support the argument my first body paragraph will provide information about the media and it's portrayal of beauty. I will then make my second body paragraph about the proclaimed effects of the media on the female's psyches and why it affects thirteen to twenty-one year olds more than any other age group. The third body paragraph will provide more detailed information of why the media's portrayal of beauty has such a negative effect on these females. I will then make the fourth body paragraph a detailed account of the actual effects that the media has on these females and the consequences. I have not decided if I will have more body paragraphs or if that is where I will stop.

A major issue with today's media is it's portrayal of beauty and the effects that this has on young women. Many young women are confronted with this portrayal, in many forms, daily and do not know how to react. This leads many of these females to succumb to the pressure and use negative methods of making themselves fit into this ideal beauty. I believe that this is a little visited but highly troublesome issue today which is why I chose it as the topic for my research project. I plan to make a detailed argument as to why this is such a big issue that needs to be stopped or handled in some way.

Researched Questions
1: What is the biggest media influence about their appearance for females today?
2: What about America's Next Top Model so strongly influences the standard of beauty today?
3: Why do some females seem to be "addicted" to their outer appearance?
4: Why do some many teenage females resort to harming themselves to achieve the media's standard of beauty?

Search Terms
-beauty pageants (Miss America, Miss Teen USA)
-America's Next Top Model
-media's standard of beauty
-teenage eating disorders
-media influence on teenage females