Thompson 1 Alexandra Thompson Luann Henken ENC 1102 13 November 2010 From: Altoon11@knights.ucf.

edu Date: Saturday, November 13, 2010 To: <Mass Media Group> Subject: A Chance at Being Beautiful Dear member of the Mass Media Community, The French have a saying that goes, L'un doit souffrir pour tre beau, which translates to One must suffer to be beautiful. Though the French may known to have a culture rich in beauty I must disagree. If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, why are women undergoing suffering to fit into the images that you, the media, the primary factor in the development and maintenance of women's body image problems, portrays? Your advertisement of the ideal woman through ads, commercials, celebrities, and the fashion industry encourages females to spend outrageous amounts of money, undergo extreme surgeries, and develop severe eating disorders. According to the 1983 Nielsen Report on Television, the average North American girl will watch 5,000 hours of television, including 80,000 ads, before she starts kindergarten (Media Sterotyping, 2005). With this brainwashing of having to appear a certain way to be accepted by society, the futures of young girls all over the world are at stake. Heidi Montag, Kim Kardashian, Megan Fox and Lindsay Lohan are just a few celebrities under thirty who have either admitted to or are rumoured to have gotten Botox injections or plastic surgery. These people are who our

Thompson 2 children, friends, and even we, ourselves, are all guilty of looking up to as role models. I dont know about you but I dont consider a person who has been poked at and cut on for reasons other than health an ideal mentor for anyone. Eight year old actress and younger sister to Disney Channel Starlet Demi Lovato, Madison De La Garza faced criticism and been ostracized for playing the fat kid on ABC television networks Desperate Housewives. Her bravery should have been applaud for and she should be seen as a role model for obsess children who believe they do not have a chance at succeeding in anything. Thus, I believe that it is time for people to pay attention to the self-mutilation that is occurring for the label of being considered beautiful. Im terrified at the thought of one day awakening and seeing toddlers on the latest form of an extreme makeover show getting liposuction to remove the remaining fat acquired during their first few years. Instead, children her age are afraid to face the same tormenting she faced. Instead of covering stories, posting blogs, and uploading photos and videos of celebrities latest surgeries or extremely expensive I propose a new turn in celebrity journalism. How about instead of criticizing figures such as Oprah and Kirstie Alley you encourage acceptance of their body image? Now I know what youre thinking. People do not want to hear about how healthy people are; they prefer to hear the latest dirt on whats going on with our public figures. This is true however I believe that if we were to take this approach to entertaining people we can accomplish many task. The estimated 8 million Americans have an eating disorder, one in 200 American women suffers from anorexia , and two to three in 100 American women suffers from bulimia would undergo a reduction in numbers (Health, 2006). In addition to this success the number of suicide rates among women would decrease. Eventually, the works that you put out will be

Thompson 3 accepted for their truthiness and positive vibes and youre pockets and views will not be hindered. For instance, Seventeen Magazine (Magazine, 2010) has begun the Body Peace Revolution. Actresses of all size and shape are featured in the magazine and there is an article featured in every issue titled Body Peace in which celebrities, writers, and readers all give their input on body issues and acceptance. This initiative that they have taken has had positive results for this magazine and I believe that all media outlets should follow their lead. The blame for these beauty issues are not being placed on you. However, you all are who control the ideas of the majority of society. As a result of this I ask you to join in the encouragement of self-esteem building and body acceptance. Lets give everyone a chance at being beautiful.

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Works Cited Health, S. C. (2006, March 3). Eating Disorder Statistics . Retrieved November 2, 2010 Magazine, S. (2010, November 15). Body Peace. Retrieved November 15, 2010, from Seventeen Magazine. Media Sterotyping. (2005, May 2). Retrieved November 15, 2010, from Media Awareness Network.