Response

Personal Image

                Every male or female has always had a problem with the way they look, and how other people perceive them in some way.  Whether it be their looks and face, their weight, the way they dress, or even the people they associate themselves with. When you think about this concept you normally think girls in their young teenage years, and sometimes even middle aged adults.  But this can in fact, happen to males as well. Personal Image is the idea, concept, or mental image one has of oneself. But what makes a person feel bad about their image? And what do they do about it?

                Personal image has become a reoccurring subject talked about in today’s society. As a young kid even I looked up to all of the pretty models and actresses on TV, reading all of the magazines, looking at the pretty clothes and make up, wanting to be just like them and dress the way they dressed. I thought it would make me look more mature. But isn't that what every young kid dreams about, Being a “big kid”? To many people, they see the perfect image as a young beautiful girl whose face is clear and flawless, with perfect makeup their lips shining and eyes glowing, skinny, with the best clothes and fashion sense. But is that really what the perfect image and body is supposed to look like, or simply just what the media and magazines make it out to be. These are questions most people ask themselves after reading these magazines and seeing these beautiful people.

                Media and magazines portray what would be commonly known as the “Perfect Image” in many ways. They use these beautiful, skinny models to advertise the perfect size you should be. They put the models in the best clothes to make you feel like you need to dress like he/she dresses. Models, singers, and actors/actresses are all ways that the media draws you in. These use these known famous people to attract more people to buy their products. Famous people like Madonna and Marilyn Monroe, people that everyone knows and worships. Many young teenagers admire and want to be like these iconic stars, on the other hand making older adults feel old and bad about the way they look, wishing they could be young again.

                The media knows the ways that people think, and exactly how to catch their eye. Therefore using these well-known and famous people to use as advertisement to sell their clothing, TV’s talking about different ways of dieting and losing weight to have the perfect body. Some of these methods have proven to be successful, attracting many young teenagers into the stores and the amount of money being made increasing rapidly, but some have proven unsuccessful. For example the concept of the perfect body can have a negative impact on people. After seeing ads for all of the ways to diet and lose weight, many people see what they think are the perfect body and do everything that they can to have that body. Sometimes putting their health at risk, leading to eating disorders such as Bulimia which is where someone eats little portions and then throws the food up thinking it will make them lose weight. Also another disorder is Anorexia which is where the person doesn't eat at all, convinced that they are fat and work out constantly to lose weight. These are very dangerous, unhealthy and can lead to death in some cases. Ads of the perfect image can also lead a person to want to get plastic surgery, changing the way they look, spending mass amounts of unnecessary spending’s.

                But what if that wasn't the case? What if the way personal image was portrayed was in fact a positive thing. To some, seeing magazines full of models that are beautiful and in great shape could be more of a motivation than something to feel bad about. Making some people want to work out, eat healthy, and start a diet. People will begin losing weight the right way, the way that is proven to be more successful and safe. Seeing someone who has expensive and popular clothing may make someone feel thankful for everything they have, and in fact make one not feel jealous at all of the clothes models wear, feeling just as good and satisfied about their own clothing. Surprisingly enough people might not feel bad about their personal image, they may indeed feel happy about the way they look and wouldn't change a thing about it. Media and advertisements of beautiful models make many feel great and thankful for everything they have been given, and everything they've achieved in life so far.

                This concept of personal image all depends on the person. One may view it in a bad way, as something that would make someone feel the need to change the way they look and their body, in some cases inflicting bodily harm upon themselves. But to others personal image is a motivation to look even better than they already do, or to admire and appreciate the way they look and how hard they worked to get there. Every person has their own opinions and feels differently about certain situations. These opinions may be based off of how they were raised and have always been known to feel about certain situations, their culture, and even as deep as their confidence level and if they have high or low self-esteem. Personal Image is a very diverse concept; it is more than what meets the eye. The perfect image and body doesn't have to be what the magazines make it out to be. The perfect body could be someone who is a little bigger. The perfect image can be someone who doesn't wear too much makeup, who doesn't have all the perfect clothes, if they like the clothes they have and are content with them nothing else should matter. As long as you’re happy with whom you are and the way you look, you too are the perfect image. Would you rather be like everyone else, dress like everyone else? Or would you rather be your own person and do/wear what makes you feel confident and happy? These are all very important questions to think about when discussing Personal Image.