The Effects of Advertising on Teenage Girls

World of Advertising and Our Girls

There is no such thing as the ideal Latina beauty. Latina beauties come in all sizes, shapes, and body types. However, the world of advertising does not recognize the different beauty ideals that we celebrate within our own culture. The ads typically glamorize skinny models who do not resemble the bigger body types that are accepted, and even preferred, in Latin American countries. The underlying message for girls in most of these ads is that you have to be unnaturally thin and sexy in order to be accepted and feel normal. It is no wonder Latinas are becoming increasingly preoccupied with their body images and weight. This preoccupation can lead to lowered self-esteem, mental health issues, and eating disorders among our niñas.

For example, did you know the average person in the United States sees approximately 3,000 ads in magazines, on billboards, and on television every day? Studies show that girls who regularly read magazines tend to diet and base their body image on photos and messages they find in the ads of these magazines. In fact, many young girls feel they must look like the images in magazines to be considered beautiful or to be accepted by others. When you stop and think about the fact that the average height and weight for a model is 5'10" and 110 lbs and the height and weight for the average woman is 5'4" and 145 lbs, it’s easy to see why this creates a tremendous health risk for young girls. Media targeting Latina girls are emphasizing the ideal of thinness as beauty. This great disparity can lead girls to diet or exercise excessively or to binge and purge in order to meet their perceived ideals.

Related to body image, media also affects a teenage girl’s sexuality. The Latin media places a high value on female sexuality. Let’s face it, sex sells, and our young girls are picking up on that message. Teenage girls feel the need to be sexually attractive in order to be loved and accepted. As a result, young girls become sexually active at a very young age as they struggle to increase their self-esteem and self-worth. Those who don’t become sexually active often feel left out. To read more about talking with girls about sexuality, click here.

Education Is the Key

There are many actions you can take to counter the negative influence advertising can have on young Latinas. Help girls feel beautiful by accepting their bodies. Here are some steps you can take:

• Show her she is loved and is an important part of the family. The role of family is very important in fighting the negative influences of the media. Girls must have loved ones and good role models around them so they do not feel the need to rely so heavily on the media for ideas about how to be accepted, loved, and respected.
• From an early age, build your daughter’s self-esteem and encourage her to have a strong sense of self-worth by accepting and loving her for who and what she is. Help her to draw her self-esteem from internal factors—such as the type of person she is, her strengths, her intelligence, and her abilities—rather than from external factors such as her physical appearance.For information about building your own healthy self-esteem, click here.
• Teach your daughter to accept and treasure her body. She has to accept her body type, just as she has accepted her height and eye color.
• Explain to your daughter that the body type seen in ads is common in less than 10 percent of the population.
• Minimize her exposure to advertisements. Restrict the amount of television she watches every day, especially in the early years. Encourage her to read books instead of buying magazines.
• Educate yourself about the techniques used in advertising, such as air brushing and other touching up, and point them out to your kids. Explain to your daughter that models and TV stars have professionals such as makeup artists, hairstylists, clothing consultants, and lighting experts to help make them look good.
• Encourage media education at your daughter’s school, and try to participate with your kids in media literacy training. Talk with an art or classroom teacher and ask her if she will do a special lesson on the effects of advertising on body image.