Image, these days, is everything. From runway, to billboards, to magazine ads, to beauty commercials—there is this idea of what beauty should be, an ideal image of what a makes a handsome man and a beautiful woman.
The Old Spice commercials are the newest idea of what a man should be. It portrays a macho man on top of a white horse. Add to that the runway shows and male models – especially in underwear commercials – and you've got an empty, but convincing image. But guys aren't as much at risk as girls are. Most images of the model of male perfection are silly, and guys don't buy into it as much as girls do.
Women, on the other hand, have a much larger scale of influence and false ideals being fired away at them, and they aspire to these images. Not only is runway mostly driven by the image of a skinny, gorgeous woman, but so television, beauty ads, magazines, and billboards are influencing them as well. This has caused a lot of problems with young girls battling things like teen pregnancy, eating disorders, and setting realistic goals.
There is this universal idea of what is acceptable and what isn't, what people expect you to be or become and who you really are. No wonder everyone struggles so much to "find" themselves in their young teenage years when image is something so tangible and seemingly unattainable. Young girls especially feel the pressure to "fit in." Middle school chews you out alive and then spits you into the unstable world of high school. And then you're in college and you're supposed to have this idea of what you want, your future, where you're going, this list of achievements cheering you on as you run the race of life. You're supposed to have this image in your head of who you are going to be.
Television shows don't help either. Gossip Girl portrays such a fake image of college life. Here are rich, beautiful, connected people in the heart of New York City, their biggest struggle being between one another and who gets the boy. Add to that the many movies that show college as nothing more than one big party and it's a miracle anyone manages to stay on their feet.
Everyone knows what I'm talking about too. You walk around the mall (or in Farmville, Walmart) and you see these kinds of girls. The girls that wear the latest styles and carry Coach bags on their arms. The girls that are stick thin and still exercise every single day. The beautiful girl who sits back as everything is handed to her—the dream job, the beautiful clothes, the perfect man. The image. You see the boys with their pants hanging low, their expensive sports shoes matching their t-shirts. I know people that hate rap and listen to it anyways because that's what's on MTV and that's what people expect our generation to listen to. I know girls who eat one meal a day so they stay twenty pounds below their expected weight. I know people who do things not because they want to, but because it's what everyone expects.
Our world today has poisoned itself with this image that is so fake, completely unachievable, and yet everyone aspires to it. We've built this image on top of glass walls; we expect to fail. People spend so much money—especially youth—on clothes, on shoes, on items that are supposed to encompass an effortless image of success and beauty. You're not cool unless you have a Facebook, or an iPod, or a Mac computer, or a college degree, or you listen to the latest hits or you drive an expensive car.
Here's the catch. People are beginning to realize how silly this image is. People are beginning to throw this image to the wind and embrace their own persona. The ones that want to be "that" person are becoming less and less despite advertisements, magazines, and television shows. People are beginning to see through this fake image and see reality television as something to never believe. So, while the image has been so widely circulated (the perfect woman with perfect skin and perfect hair, paired with the macho man), it is losing its convincing edge.
A revolution of independence and individuality is beginning to form, seen in the Dove Beauty ads as well as in clothing lines like Gap. People are beginning to realize that being the "It" girl is not always a good thing, that being the model man isn't desirable. I like it. I hope that we as a generation can wipe out the image that advertisers have shoved down our throats and come out as the exact opposite.
