Just today I have been thinking of how the media affects us, by us I mean women. I hear the terms total babe, hottie, fugly, and my favorite, DUFF (Designated Ugly Fat Friend). I grew up thinking that women where supposed to be girly, spend at least one hour on your appearances in the morning and thin as a rail. I have always been overweight but athletic; I have been on a swim team or water polo team since I was seven years old. I have never been able to fit into the cute junior clothes because of my broad shoulders and more weight than I should I have been carrying. Media has such a huge affect on young girls; it shows them what is expected of them. I am glad to see that there is more of an effort to help girls love their bodies the way they are instead of changing it to look like a model, who are not even real thanks to Photoshop. The ways that gender roles in the media are portrayed are that women have to be sexual, feminine, and cannot live without a man by their side. When I was young this severely corrupted my thinking, even today I still have to deal with my extreme low self-esteem, even though I have friends and a loving boyfriend.

When I look at things being sold to young girls, as young as five, I am really disturbed. I think about what this is doing to young girls, even my childhood was not as corrupted as these. Then it makes me wonder about the parents that endorse such behavior, why these are parents so perverse in their choice in how to raise their children? Parents should be raising their children not with rules that they will rebel against, but morals and guidelines, a way to live life and respect yourself. When you think of the parents, its usually the mother you see these actions coming from. I think that so many women who are now mothers where raised a certain way resulting in low self-esteem. Mothers are trying to live vicariously through their daughters, making them think they are not good enough.

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