Teens too pressured to dress like J-Lo
A recent study shows that self-esteem in terms of body image is lowered after viewing images of thin models. Being sent the message to look good and wear as little as possible is an unnecessary evil for girls and women of all ages to deal with.
COMMENTARY
Katherine Ortega Courtney

All it takes is turning on MTV for one minute at random times during the day to realize that apparently there is a fabric shortage in the United States. Luckily for us, female pop stars have stepped up and volunteered to wear as little clothing as possible. It is a very rare and strange thing to see a woman on MTV with a shirt that goes down past her belly button.

Trends happen, and that is fine. Unfortunately, the people who actually watch MTV and look to it as a thermometer to tell them what is cool are young teenagers and preteens too quick to assume this is how everyone dresses in real life.

It is a fact of life that not everyone can look good in a shirt made out of a strip of fabric three inches wide, like the one Christina Aguilera wore to MTV’s Video Music Awards in August. And unfortunately, not everybody should parade around the mall wearing jeans so low you wonder if the plumber who invented that look is getting royalties. But a growing number of people do, and there is much pressure to dress this way.

The message being sent out to young women is, “this is how you are expected to dress, and you better look good, too.” But most real-world women, both thin and not, do not have the curves and lack of fatnecessary to pull these kind of outfits off. That is why Britney Spears is famous in the first place. If everybody looked like that, there would be no need for Britney or Christina videos. We could just walk to the local Wal-Mart and watch each other strut around. If you have ever been to a Wal-Mart anywhere in the United States, it is obvious that most regular humans are a far cry from Britney or J-Lo.

A study by Lisa Groesz published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders in January examined data from 25 studies of mass media influences on body image. They found that self-esteem in terms of body image was lower after viewing images of thin models. Body image ratings were higher when people viewed average-sized models, plus-sized models or inanimate objects. Groesz also found that this effect was stronger for people younger than 19.

The message is simple. Being constantly surrounded by images of super-skinny women makes normal-sized women feel bad about themselves. What a surprise.

The message the media fails to convey is that it is unreasonable and unrealistic to expect to look like a pop star. Most people do not have the time or money to work out with a personal trainer for several hours a day like Janet Jackson does. Most adults understand that. But when a 13-year-old girl watches MTV (or any other TV, or reads magazines or watches movies) all the time, and all she sees are flawless bodies, it is easy to believe that everyone is supposed to have a perfect body. Failure to live up to these impossible goals can easily lead to low self esteem, depression and eating disorders.

It would benefit everyone, but especially young women, if the media made an effort to not only show women with a variety of body shapes, but portray them as being happy, beautiful and loved. It is a horrible message to send that the only women worth spending any time on are the ones who look great in a bikini, but haven’t actually eaten an entire meal since they were babies. Being in a society where one is surrounded with the message that you must wear as little clothing as possible, and look good doing it is an unnecessary evil for girls and women of all ages to deal with.

Katherine Ortega Courtney is a psychology graduate student from Santa Fe, N.M.