From a young age, girls get the idea that they need to have the “perfect” bodies, in order to fit in and be pretty. It all starts with TV shows on Disney and Nickelodeon where the main characters are always very pretty and skinny and popular. With these influences all starting so early in life, girls feel pressure to fit in and to be considered pretty, they have to have a “perfect” body.

A study done by Hamilton College in New York found that the average women spends 335 hours, on their hair and makeup per year. The study also looked into how women and teens see themselves negatively. The study found that 60% of women and a whole 78% of teen girls think something bad about their looks.

This of course has to do with the media. When all role models for young girls and teenagers have a skinny figure and are famous, girls sometimes feel that in order to be like that, they have to have a skinny figure too.

This “perfect” body idea also can lead to eating disorders. Society associates being thin with positive qualities like success, love, attractiveness and heath. The media has a focus on dieting and having a slim silhouette, thus making young girls feel the need to participate in these trends.

Since everyone know this stereotype, some are bullied by others about their appearance, making them feel worthless and forcing them to become skinny. Girls from the age of 7-12 start becoming more insecure with body image and think that weight determines your worth.

If people think the media doesn’t have an influence on girls’ opinions and that it doesn’t control what girls think of themselves, wake up! The media controls almost every aspect of a girl’s life, from style, tastes in music, political opinions, and yes- body image.

In order to solve this problem, we as a society need to be more accepting of different body types in media and especially our own lives. Some famous figures such as Beyoncé among many others are starting to pave the way for the change of what an “average body” has to look like by posting their makeup-free selfies on social media.

Out of all celebrities, Demi Lovato has been quite influential these days when it comes to body positivity. She has posted many tweets about things like thigh gaps and curves, sharing that it doesn’t matter if anyone has these features because we’re all beautiful. She tweets “Instead of looking in the mirror and focusing on your flaws, look in the mirror and appreciate your best features… everyone has them.”

We all should feel confident with our bodies regardless of what society thinks of us, we all are beautiful in our own way. So in the words of Adele, “The first thing to do is be happy with yourself and appreciate your body — only then should you try to change things about yourself.”