The teenage years are fraught with many difficulties, new school, exams and puberty however the most difficult appearance. Teenagers of the modern day feel unhappy with their bodies and how they are seen by others. A survey of 2,000 girls for bliss magazines found 6/10 girls would be much happier in life if they lost weight another 7/10 girls said they feel insecure when at school and home. Why must teens feel unhappy in their bodies? who has influenced them to feel and act like this? THE MEDIA! magazines, television , adverts these thing promote how a perfect body should look and what a body shouldn’t look lie. The media have brainwashed teenagers to thinking that their body or appearance isn’t good enough. I asked a 9 year old boy who loves social media sites ” what would you life to look like in a few years time? He replied ” I want to look like the guy in my sisters magazines” I then asked what does he look like?” he said ” He has big muscles and is really tall also has white teeth and when I am older i want to be just like him and the way he looks” I then asked a 15 year old girl and she said “ I want to be pretty and skinny I was reading one of my favourite magazines and it says women who weigh more don’t tend to find love then women who are skinnier” I was astonished by what these teenagers told me and how they actually feel about the way they look, why must teenagers feel like this ? its not right at all we need to insure them that the way they look is perfectly fine and it shouldn’t be changed for anyone.

 

Being insecure about the body isn’t the only thing that worries me, the colour of our skin is becoming a major issue. It doesn’t matter what colour of our skin black white mixed raced we are all equal. We need to tell people that being to dark or being to pale isn’t a problem at all. I was at my local youth club playing games with a couple of my friends I was distracted by a group of kids laughing and calling a boy names because he was darker then a ordinary black man I was so angry and confused at the same time all I could think of was why? What’s  so funny about having darker skin? He is  a human!, A hair and beauty shop sell a product for bleaching people skins to make their skin seem lighter. In fact 43% of black people purchase an item every week. I asked one of the customers who buys these types of products often, “why is it that you buy such these things”? She gave me no response immediately I knew that this women who didn’t respond to my question didn’t feel happy about the colour of her skin and her appearance to others. According to E Square magazines which is published in Nigeria 53% of women in Abuja ( capital city) say they don’t like the colour of their skin and wish to change how they look. Majority of the women want to look like the women in magazines billboards adverts and television but do they know some of them women are fake, and how some of the women don’t even look like that in real life and how the media have deceived us to believe that looking at them is the right way.

How much time do you spend on Instagram and Facebook? Do you constantly find yourself comparing your body to your favorite Instagram celebrity? Well, if you do, it may lead to some self esteem issues.

In a new survey conducted by Glamour Magazine, 54% of women are unhappy with their body. This number has increased 13%  since 1984 and Glamour Magazine believes it could be from social media.

 

I compare myself with my friends on Facebook and Instagram all the time,” says Bethany Everett, 27, community director at Green Mountain College in Poultney, Vermont. “With actresses, I know they have a personal chef and trainer and it’s their job to have the bodies they do I don’t have any real expectations of looking like them. With people I know, it’s like, Well, she did it. Why can’t I?”. But why must we compare our bodies with different people, the media tells us that the bodies they are showing us are perfect. But are they?

We must insure our children and each other that feeling good about your body is the right way and if your body doesn’t look like the celebs in magazines or on television then it don’t mean your body isn’t beautiful or good enough! Lets try and re unsure each other and make people feel proud of what they look like. Lets not tease or minimize someone that’s just WRONG! Be supportive is someone feels upset. If we can all try and do these things then I am certain that people will start feeling comfortable in the way they look and the media would eventually accept that fact that nobody has “The Perfect Body”.