Striving for Perfection

[whitney cummings (caleo)]

Everyone strives for perfection. The problem is today's society and their idea of perfection. Teenagers' constant obsessions to look like the girls on the cover of magazines or to act just like the characters in the movies manipulates teenagers into thinking that they need to change themselves in order to be like them. In reality, there is no such thing as perfect. Most of the men and women on those magazines have been photo shopped, creating false ideas and images that teenagers look to as "perfect."

 

 

Unfortunately, trying to be perfect has driven teenagers into doing dangerous things in order to reach society's idea of perfection. It is estimated that eight million Americans have eating disorders, seven million female and one million male. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. Bulimia, mood disorders, and high levels of anxiety have also been associated with teenagers and their destructive actions towards becoming "perfect."

 

Everyone is different and unique. Trying to be like someone else because society has told you that you should be, or that you're not perfect, takes away what makes you special. We should accept who we are, embrace it, and understand that there is no such thing as perfect.

 

Thoughts, opinions, ideas?

[Robin de Freitas]

I strive to be me. It works pretty well.

[Duncan Brown]

I don't strive to be perfect and don't associate with people who do.  We've gone awry in that we allow fashion icons to assume a deity role in society.  I don't understand eating disorders.  I like to eat a lot and I hate feeling hungry.  So, go figure I guess...

[megan majewski]

i agree with everything you say here. no one is perfect and no one will ever be. so everyone just needs to realize that you dont need to be perfect,you just need to be happy and healthy. but obviously media has killed most teenagers brains, so i dont think there is anyway this is going to stop. the strive for perfection will be a long-going disease in the world of teens.

[Aricela Marquez]

I agree. Advertisement is the true core of all the eating disorders and depressions. But then again we have let pictures like above be the ideal perfection we feel is acceptable. I will be honest and say there are sometimes I flip through a magazine and feel a little less when I don't look like the models, but that happens to everyone. Then I simply remember I am who I am and if I wanted to be like those in the magazines then I wouldn't be me. I would be anything but.

[Alanna Krivanek]

I completely agree, I actually did a speech on this last year for english. There are so many advertisments everywhere and majority of them have models in theme. And there is a good chance they were photoshoped. Because these images are not real, people are striving for perfection that doesn't exist. People today care way too much about how they look.

[Jared Niec]

I agree completely. A lot photos you see are photo shopped and fake, everyone strives for perfection yet no one will attain it. We are only human and every human is going to have their flaws. Making someone appear perfect is nothing but a lie. The pressure brought on from magazines really creates a lot of stress for anyone that wants to be just like him/her when really the person is completely fake.

[Ashlyn Jensen]

I agree that the pressure "Hollywood" puts on teenage girls and teenagers in general is insane. They would rather have themselves look like perfection to the rest of the world and make everyone feel like their not good enough, instead of showing what they really look like. If they were to show what they really looked like on those magazine covers, people would be striving to be like something realistic. They would look at the covers and see that those celebrities are really just like us, and perfection is a myth that most never achieve.

[megan majewski]

i couldnt agree with this more. we were all made different for a reason, so i dont get why everyone tries to be like that one lucky guy or girl who got lucky in the looks department. i dont think that the media is doing a good job at showing that everyone is unique, since they slam us everyday with the beautiful stars. but people need to just get past that and realize that alot of it is fake...

[Josh Jyawook]

i agree with this whole thing. i think its ridicouls that kids try and change what they look like by not eating cause they think thats going to help even though itll just make it worst. people dont know that all the famous people get photshopped, but thats obviously why they look so good. as you can tell by that picture. alot of guys thnk that she is a cute girl and as you can see there things you didnt know about her that get photoshopped. it doesnt make her ugly but it just proves a point.

[Keely Ward]

There is a ton of pressure for people to care about how they look in society. It is really sad that men and women will do harmful things to themselves just to fit an image. The "perfect" look shouldn't be decided by the photoshopped images we see in todays ads.