My Own Ideal Beauty

The media is everywhere. Billboards, music, radio stations, iPods, laptops, the internet, TV, movies, commercials, video games, books, magazines, and etc...it is literally everywhere. It is believed that the average person sees over 3,000 adverts a day (McCarver, 2011). Media saturation, we absorb the media like a sponge and we are dripping with it. Within the media saturation there is agenda setting. The media doesn't tell us what to think, more so they tell us what to think about. The only way this can be combated is through media literacy. We need to be fluent in the media language, look at media from a critical view, and look at media through an educated lends.

These are all things that Smart Girl has done an excellent job of addressing. The best example of how this is done is through the idea that models seems perfect, but yet not perfect enough. There is an activity that we do with the girls: we look at magazine ads, articles, and pictures. We have them pick one that really stands out to them for whatever reason and then we discuss it as a group. The goal is to show them what's real and what's not. We also talk about the processes that the models go through to look the way they do in those ads. We also show them videos that show the process. We also show them pictures of anorexics - the models that have taken it too far. We de-mask the beauty ideal.    

It's important for the girls to realize that what they view as real isn't. We then have the girls take their magazine and throw it, really throw it. It's a powerful exercise that really hits home, not only for the girls, but the guides as well. It brings up all types of emotions ranging from anger to sadness. Once all the smoke and mirrors are taken away it's much easier to see that the elephant is still in the room.

I once had a shirt that said, "I know I'm not perfect, but I'm so close it scares me." We, as humans, aren't anywhere close to being perfect, but I also believe that perfection is in the eye of the beholder. I think I am perfect just the way I am, but it's difficult to not give in to the saturation I face day to day. The goal in the end is for the girls to feel the same way, but that can only be done if we help them stop thinking about being the "ideal" beauty and show them that they are their own "ideal" beauty.


McCarver, G. (Director) (2011, March 15). Media & Communication. Gender & Communication. Lecture conducted from Communication Department, Denver.