Double Entry Journal # 4

Quote:

“Girls need to learn that their identity is tied to more than their physical beauty and shape” (Sauer & Robles-Piña, 2003).

Reflection:

I enjoyed the video about the man’s body image of being “tough” (Katz, 1999).  However I am reflecting more on the girl’s media image.  It was not too long ago, that I was in high school, reading Seventeen, and eating like a rabbit.  I remember so vividly thinking I was “fat” and reading worthless articles about quick diets.  I remember cutting out pictures of celebrities and putting them on my mirror as motivation to stay on my “diet.” 

I was not the only one who had such strange media obsessions.  All of my friends did, too.  I graduated from a tiny school with 24 people so “cliques” were almost non-existent.  The pressure to be tiny and beautiful did not come from my small community.  It came from the media.

The girls on the covers of magazines had flawless (airbrushed) skin, tiny waists, large breasts, perfect hair, and perfect makeup.  There was nothing more tragic as an adolescent than to not fit in a size 2 and have a pimple.    

                                                                                                                

I eventually learned that my identity went beyond that picture I taped on my mirror from Seventeen.  Girls need to learn that their identity goes beyond physical beauty.  I teach 8^th grade at a middle school with nearly 1000 students.  You can imagine the superficial attitudes that I see.  The 13 and 14 year olds I teach looked like they just walked off the Cosmo cover.  As an educator, I want to try and instill the value that true identity is more than skin deep.   

Additional Resource:

I do not know what Vogue defines ass “too thin,” but here’s slight reassurance for the future. 

References:

(n.d.). Getting real. [Print Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhvTybMxRBA

Katz, J. (1999). Youtube. [0]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3exzMPT4nGI

Sauer, H., & Robles-Piña, R. (2003). Magazines: What adolescent girls are reading and the way they shape body image. Retrieved from