TV and films have a serious effect on how young women portray
themselves. TV shows that are geared towards young women typically the
actresses in the show are young, very pretty, and skinny. Shows like Gossip Girl,
Friends, and Pretty Little Liars really portray young women as wealthy and
slim. The problem with this is that since these shows are geared towards high
school audiences, the girls watching these shows believe that it’s only okay to
look the way the actresses do on these shows. For example in many episodes of
Gossip Girl the two main characters Blair and Serena are portrayed to be two
best friends who have a lot of money and live on the upper east side of
Manhattan. They are always wearing very expensive outfits that show off how
skinny their bodies are. Particularly in every episode there is at least one
time where either Blair or Serena is standing in front of their mirror in just
a bra and underwear typically talking about how they want to not be as “fat”.
There is one scene where Blair is sitting in the bathtub eating cookies and as
soon as Serena comes in Blair hides her cookies so that way she won’t think
that she is fat. The problem with this is that girls watching this show see
that and think about how they aren’t as skinny as Blake Lively (Serena) and
Leighton Meester (Blair) and see how Blair was complaining that she was fat.
This becomes an even bigger problem because they see a girl complaining about
how fat she is even though she is actually underweight. For me at least, I know
this was very upsetting because it puts a certain expectation in your head that
to be happy, you have to have lots of money and you have to be skinnier or
underweight to look normal. Blair’s character on the show is actually bulimic,
but they do not show this as a bad thing. Being bulimic is a serious issue but on Gossip Girl they show it in a way
that makes it seem like it’s a good option to lose weight. Blair will eat apple
pie on thanksgiving and then go in the bathroom and throw it back up because
she doesn’t want to gain weight from it. The problem with this being on a TV
show geared towards a high school age is that girls watch Blair eat fattening
foods and then think that being bulimic is something that you can chose to do
or that is a great way to lose weight. This goes along with body image because
girls are seeing these two perfect girls who complain about their body weight when
they are actually skinnier than they should be. People ages 13-20 see this and
think that they should also be the size as Blair and Serena.
This picture is a great example of how skinny the two of
them are and on the show the characters are constantly complaining about how
they have to stop eating so much. According to an article on Media Smarts
Gossip Girl is constantly reinforcing the idea that being underweight is better
than being a normal weight. It also added that girls who watch reality TV shows
are more likely to believe that a girls looks are the most important thing
about her.
In
conclusion Gossip Girl has many flaws that go along with body image. On this
show they only have the best looking people that play characters that believe
they are not good enough or skinny enough. This affects the audience because
girls start to believe that they need to be just as good looking and skinny as
Blair and Serena.
I agree with this completely. This show does not portray the right image, whether it is about high school, body image, or even how average high schoolers live. Do not get me wrong I love this show and there charter rolls, but it does not portray real high school students. Body image is a huge deal in a girls/ women eyes, and when your in high school and the first couple years of college you are still trying to find yourself and you want to feel as beautiful as you can. Gossip Girl does make it seem that being bulimic is okay...... IT IS NOT. Many men and women struggle with this disease and Blair makes it think its okay to start this.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with this topic and I think this is something that many girls can relate to. Not only gossip girl, but so many other shows portray certain body images or stereotypes that tend to have the same affect. The fact that Gossip Girl portrays these images and knowledge about how girls are supposed just in high school is affecting girls at a very young age. This triggers so many body issues and health problems with girls at such a young age.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great explanation of body image. It is so true that a lot of girls and women watch this show and think that their body should look that way, but in reality it isn't healthy. I even saw myself thinking about how much of a better life it could be being that skinny and not having to worry about my stomach being larger, but then would fall back into reality and realize I should be content. That everyone is perfect the way they are. Also I like how you tied in the fact that it does affect so many girls even in other TV shows.
ReplyDeleteBody image through media is definitely an ongoing issue in society today. I completely agree that gossip girl displays girls in the wrong way. From watching every episode, you can tell that Blair and Serena are always extremely put together and the fact that they complain about their bodies is just ridiculous. Girls today should not feel like they have to look like these girls on TV. Instead, television should teach girls to love themselves.
ReplyDeleteDana I really enjoy your analysis on this matter, I too wrote about body image for this blog because it is such a large and important topic. I feel like this show also shows the negative body image but must say that they do make Blair's bulimia a serious thing. Although it is not a very center focused aspect of the show they do show how scary it is. Serena and Nate taking care of Blair as well as Chuck to make sure that she does not think that is a viable option to lose weight or gain attention. I wish that you talked a bit more about the other two shows you mentioned in your introduction because I think they would have been a great addition to this blog. I do enjoy the aspect of Gossip Girl that you did analyze as I thought it clearly shown in the show, like in your photo, that the show does center around being very skinny and wearing high end clothing. I enjoyed reading your blog overall!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with this post. The girls in this show make sure their lives revolve around being rich, thin, and beautiful. I loved the show, but oh my god they emphasize again and again that its not okay to be bigger. With eating disorders being a growing issue we need to watch what we put on TV.
ReplyDeleteGossip Girl is a great example of how girls' bodies are shown in the media. Gossip Girl was such a big show when it aired and the targeted audience was young girls. The problems that the characters had in the show were trying to be something the audience could relate to but the actors were hard to relate to when they are extremely skinny and wealthy. It made young girls feel like they were only acceptable if they were like the characters even though they were unrealistic goals. The eating disorders were not portrayed well in the show and gave young girls the idea that it was acceptable to be unhealthy.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great and, of course, well written blog. It`s so useful
ReplyDeletehttps://blog.mindvalley.com/positive-body-image/