Robbing Adolescents Of Their Self-Esteem

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"By age twelve girls are robbed of ever seeing themselves as being beautiful enough again."

Cherith Fee Nordling

As grandad of a priceless ten-year-old grand-daughter I'm deeply concerned about the effect our media saturated culture could have on her self-esteem.

In a study done by Daniel Clay, Vivian L. Vignoles, and Helga Dittmar of the University of Sussex they found the following:

"In Western cultures, girls’ self-esteem declines substantially during middle adolescence, with changes in body image proposed as a possible explanation. Body image develops in the context of sociocultural factors, such as unrealistic media images of female beauty. In a study of 136 U.K. girls aged 11–16, experimental exposure to either ultra-thin or average-size magazine models lowered body satisfaction and, consequently, self-esteem."

The following are among the sobering findings you can check out on the Just Say Yes website:

• 40% of all 9 and 10-year-old girls have already been on a diet – Duke University
• 70% of 6-12-year-olds want to be thinner – National Eating Disorders Association
• In one study, 3 out of 4 women stated that they were overweight although only 1 out of 4 actually were – Rader Programs
• While only one out of ten high school girls is overweight, nine out of ten high school juniors and seniors diet – Rader Programs
• A study found that adolescent girls were more fearful of gaining weight than getting cancer, nuclear war or losing their parents – Rader Programs
• Teen pregnancy statistics show that girls who engage in unprotected sex often have lower self esteem - Family First Aid

Here are some of their stats on the effect of media on girls' and women's self esteem:

• 69% of girls in 5th – 12th grades reported that magazine pictures influenced their idea of a perfect body shape - National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders
• Following the viewing of images of female fashion models, seven out of ten women felt more depressed and angrier than prior to viewing the images – Rader Programs
• 80% of women who answered a People magazine survey responded that images of women on television and in the movies make them feel insecure – Rader Programs
• The body type portrayed in advertising as the ideal is possessed naturally by only 5% of American females – National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders

Needless to say, I am way beyond outraged by all of this.