What can we do to help teen girls build self-esteem, overcome insecurities and form supportive relationships?
Above all, young girls need unconditional love from their parents. If they are not getting love and approval from their parents, they are going to be seeking it elsewhere. Also, our society needs to stop glorifying the “anorexic look” that we see in so many runway models. Young girls see these models on TV and then look at themselves in a mirror and start feeling inadequate because they think they don’t have “the look”. It gives them unrealistic expectations about beauty and leads to eating disorders. We also need to start placing more emphasis on things like integrity, intelligence, wisdom, and fitness rather than merely focusing on beauty and how skinny a woman is. Girls need role models who are strong and physicall fit rather than anorexic and weak. I believe Hollywood has the power to change peoples’ perceptions of beauty, but the question is whether or not it’s in their financial best-interest to do so.
