Branching off of Why TMZ Why?

I agree with you that the media is awful and seductive at the same time. I admit to browsing perezhilton.com from time to time. Also, since the Great Vodka Spill of '08 occurred on top of my TV, I only get a few channels such as Bravo and MTV.. So when I want to tune out my loud roommates, it is often to the same ridiculous "reality" shows about skinny beautiful rich people. I honestly do NOT CARE about these people. They really piss me off more than anything. I could go on for a day about how warped these people's priorities are (or to be fair, how warped the editors of these shows portray them). But I'll spare you all and I won't even go on that rant. What really does bother me, however, is the media shoving this in our faces. As strong of a person as I like to believe myself to be, I can't help but sometimes feel like my priorities and values are uprooted by being a consumer of this media. Particularly about my body. I like to tell myself that I am who I am and I'm pretty damn proud of it. I go around thinking, Ok, So I am not 110 lbs with clear skin and designer clothes. So What?? If my appearance or level of chic is a concern of my friends then they are not people i want to be friends with in the first place. I walk around confident and glad to be who I am.


Then i turn on the TV.



...And not on just one channel, or one show-- but every channel, every show, there are these flawless beauties parading around crying about not being beautiful enough, having judges and panels tell them what they need to work on to be more beautiful because they aren't cutting it, etc etc. And if you see enough of it, repeatedly, it starts to get to you.

There is a mirror near my TV. I was watching this show and they told the girl she wasn't skinny enough. She probably is about 6 inches taller and 20 lbs lighter than me. I glanced in the mirror as they were criticizing her and instead of my reflection all I could see was fat and cellulite and clogged pores. i instinctively sucked my stomach in and fixed my hair to cover a blemish on my forehead.

This is how invasive the media is. It disgusts me! It is enough to penetrate my confidence and make me think I am not good enough by throwing these unrealistic standards at me constantly. I know that a lot of women feel this way. Especially young girls (that's where it all starts to be honest). And I am sure plenty guys do too. It's so frustrating that my perception of my own body is vulnerable to this shallow generation of media influence. I don't think that turning on the TV should be a blow to my confidence. But I feel like that's what is has come to.