77 Percent of Girls Consider Themselves Ugly
Most young American and British girls are not feeling happy with their body image. The latest research showed that most of them are negatively influenced by advertisements.
According to international study commissioned by Dove, by the age 12 most girls have seen around 77,500 ads. Researchers questioned 2,000 girls from the UK and the US aged between 10 and 14 and found out that as much as 77 percent of them described themselves in negative terms. Many said they consider themselves ugly, fat and upset when comparing themselves with attractive images shown in advertisements.
The study found the link between the prevalence of beautiful images in media and increasing number of teenagers having low self-esteem. One 14-year-old girl wrote that images in magazines make her feel upset because she knows she could never be that beautiful.
Dr Susie Orbach, a psychotherapist and the author of Time to Talk says that the effect of media images can be crucial to vulnerable psychic of young girls who are "bombarded by millions of images of digitally manipulated, airbrushed beauty every day".
During a study girls were asked to keep a diary were they recorded all the beauty images seen over three days and write down their thoughts.
The low-self-esteem is closely connected to mental health problems. And the fact that almost 90 percent of all girls were feeling depressed about their appearance and 76 percent of them having eating disorders as a way to handle negative emotions towards themselves is alarming.
Powered by www.infoniac.comComments:
- 0 votes
//30 Feb 07, 2010 05:03 PM | posted by:
HANNAH - I think girls are pretty no matter what they say.! some people act there own way and they may be weird to you but they may think the same. They may not be able to help where they came from! Every girl at some point goes extreme to make a guy like them when they really may not and think your annoying! Don't make your role models famous people because they are most of the time stuck up and only are in it for the money! So be your own person and don't let other people judge you! :D
- 0 votes
//29 Jan 30, 2010 08:51 AM | posted by:
Megan Hiller - All of you saying that most teens are ugly, get a damn life. It's not true. Everyone is beautiful in their own way. Plus, whos right is it to tell us what beauty really is? No ones. We all at some opint try to live up to these stick thin airbrushed models, but in reality, it's nearly impossible. I do agree on one thing though, some American girls just don't take care of themselves very well. (Keep in mind that I'm saying this, yet I'm a 13 year old American) If you really feel so strongly that you need to be more beautiful, do something about it. Don't just sit there and complain, because that will get you nowhere. DON'T go out there and spend a crapload of money on beauty products though. They aren't necessary.
What I'm trying to say is that even without all the makeup and hair products, everyone is beautiful. Stop trying to say otherwise. - 0 votes
//28 Nov 07, 2009 07:59 PM | posted by:
roman66 - Come on people we are all beautiful to someone,i adore all women,your incredible just be your self....
- 1 votes
//27 Nov 03, 2009 05:35 AM | posted by:
self-esteem - you know that ur beautiful when you do something good. you know that ur beta then those airbrushed pictures of models. you know that low self esteem is the reason most girls suffer from anerexic. your the judge for yourself, not the media. think. do. positive.
lead a beta life, the outside doesn't matter as much the inside. :) - 0 votes
//26 Oct 25, 2009 06:03 PM | posted by:
Shannon - Some of these people are total bitches, like really?? this is why girls are self concious..who are u to say what beauty is?? its what the media tells you is pretty right? NO just because a girl isnt size 1 and doesnt have dd boobs doesnt mean shes ugly. Im 18 years old and have been told im pretty many times and have been asked to model many times, i have a good body (im not a size 0 at age 18... im actually healthy) and i still have had low self esteem problems because of what the media portrays as beauty.. or even, what men portray as beauty. Im so sick of what "beauty" means to people... just because you dont look like a playboy model, victorias secret model, or vogue model... your beautiful!!! ALOT more beautiful then people with fake boobs and nose jobs because they are FAKE and no one should be someone their not. Be yourself, and you are beautiful :)
- 0 votes
//25 Oct 19, 2009 02:32 PM | posted by:
Kerrigan - Girls are beatuful no matter what, im a 12 yr old grrl and think of myself positivily. people dont agree with me alot so its ok if you dont agree with me buit every girl who thinks shes ugly probably has a rolemodel like Miley Cyrus or who ever. Miley probably looks at magazines and tries to be perfect and beatuful while girls round the world try to be like her. I think that its stupid girls try to copy someone else! They should be theyre own person! Not some clone-atic! Thats why if somone wheres skirts i wear jeans they look all girly i look more guy-ish with a tshirt and stuff I LOVE to look different and not care what other people think and every girl shoul,d think that to!
- 0 votes
//24 Jul 06, 2009 05:34 AM | posted by:
annyo. - Well some people who down others do it to make themself feel better & may not relize that it does hurt you but the people who do are ugly on the outside & inside what I mean by that is they are cruel and it makes them look ugly and people won't have nothing to do with them when they act like that.
- 2 votes
//23 Jun 02, 2009 11:49 PM | posted by:
Reply00 - I only have these words to say to you... Beauty is not everything, yet it is in the beholder of it, and it is not the priority of love.
- 4 votes
//22 May 22, 2009 10:21 PM | posted by:
Ugly Teenaged Girl - I'm tired of all this 'you're really all beautiful!' bullshit. Most people are fucking ugly. Get used to it.
I have stretch marks, but have never had children. I have one inverted nipple, a crooked nose, keratosis pilaris on my arms and legs, scars all over my face, black and purple bags under my eyes, a messed up hairline that can never be straight, a constant cowlick and messy looking hair, I'm slightly overweight, flat feet, and oddly shaped hands. But I was an extremely intelligent person, was painting portraits and logos for schools and businesses at 13, spent my time reading instead of working on my makeup and clothes (Since I looked ugly either way), and was more than excited to be involved in charity and actual work. When you're ugly, nothing is really given to you. You're never really popular, so you have to be a genuinely nice, funny and smart person to make friends. You have to understand yourself since you can't just walk into any social circle.
In most cases, people are unattractive. And if your truly ugly, like myself, instead of bitching and staring at yourself in the mirror, do something to make your world beautiful. - 1 votes
//21 May 13, 2009 06:59 AM | posted by:
100 - no one ugly everyone is beautiful
- 1 votes
//20 Apr 25, 2009 03:24 PM | posted by:
Bree - Some of you guys are total bitches. You are the reason these girls think they're ugly. These girls are not ugly. Every single one of them is beautiful not because of they're looks but because of the acts they do. I'm 13 and i know the shit you get about being ugly and I'm a model. It's a hell of a lot worse for my friends. The constant need to be pretty takes over our lives. And it's shit that when you come to an important article that reflects the things you already knew but on a larger scale you find grown men and women calling young girls ugly. I hope you are all very ashamed of yourselves.
- 6 votes
//19 Apr 20, 2009 09:07 AM | posted by:
Matt - I seriously don't get how this can be a topic, I mean, simplistically, there are two cases:
One, you ARE ugly: There are methods for handling that, wearing clothing that compensates exercise, diet etc.
Two, you are NOT ugly: In which case, your views are flawed and should be corrected, just like any other insecurity, with help of friends, family, or a psychiatrist.
This, is not a topic guys, there is a method for everything.
Also, can someone draw the line between happiness and beauty? I've yet to find one you know.... - 6 votes
//18 Mar 31, 2009 03:24 PM | posted by:
kina - Honestly,
i hope a few girls read this im 17 years old, and i've been through some pretty tough shit and always thinking im ugly and fat thing is, im none of them im a healthy human being and im beautiful, i think that magazines are really fixed up and i think we're all beautiful and some of us we have alot of potential beauty , but when girls wine about nasty skin, being fat, short tall , ect, do something about it take care of yourself your body is your temple dont let yourself go, belive me if you tried and actually worked up to it you would end up the way you want too anythings possible and if your just born with the face you dont like, well babe live with it and except who you are cuz its the only face you've got, there are so many things to really worry about besides having a low self asteem so ladies please wake up, and just try to be the best you can be.
Much love. - 1 votes
//17 Jan 09, 2009 11:50 PM | posted by:
hakeem - i wont some
- 1 votes
//16 Dec 18, 2008 03:00 PM | posted by:
Its IT - Y do all of you guys that r makin these precentages i bet u there all lies like grow up ur artards leave all of thm alone thats not ur bizness how would u like it if i came ujp to u do u think ur an ugly bitch tell me u would feel more said
- 3 votes
//15 Dec 10, 2008 09:48 PM | posted by:
Heather - Are some of you serious lol omg shallow ugly little things like Nicole,Kate,Reemus the Deemus, & grumbler get a life and quit being jealous of everyone else.Now statisticly you guys are the ugly ones hoping to gain something for yourself from putting these children down.All them magazines are fake fixed pictures & the celebs are caked to hell with make up & spray tans everytime they turn around.Peace
- 3 votes
//14 Nov 24, 2008 08:13 PM | posted by:
Nicole - These pictures are not fake, at least not all of them. How do I know? I'm a model. That's right, a 6' tall size 1 example of the girls you label as "fake". I eat normally, maybe a bit more than normal actually. I don't exercise at all, never mind being a fanatic. I don't have zits airbrushed away or tooth gaps filled in. I Don't HAVE any zits and my teeth are naturally perfect. We are the images of beauty, and the ugly population needs to realize they're ugly, not be told over and over they're perfect
- 2 votes
//13 Nov 18, 2008 04:36 PM | posted by:
rachel - all you people on here saying that girls are ugly and fat are hypocrits. think about it, you have all had the days were you dont meet up to someone standards. now your the reason there are these so called standards. all i have to say is KARMA
- 0 votes
//12 Nov 01, 2008 08:19 PM | posted by:
kate - I am sorry to say that but they find themselves ugly because they usually are.
American girls don't understand anything about appropriate style/fashion, most of them don't care to look feminine and cute even though it's a girls' nature to look nice...
Look at French girls. They can be unattractive by themselves but they car so much about themsleves, their bodies, hair, nails, clothes. Same with Eastern-European, Latin American, Japanese, Korean girls..I don't want to say that every girl should spend lots of money on that, no... I just want to say that if American or English (or German sometimes) girl would try to look neat, clean and cute - it would totally work much better than those black ugly cloths and blue/pink hair. Sorry, American girls, you are totally ugly :( Unfortunately - 1 votes
//11 Oct 13, 2008 01:18 PM | posted by:
summer_rain [InfoSLAVE]
- Everyone's beautiful in his/her own way, so my advice to those girls would be to stop looking at fake pictures in magazines and concentrate more on other things that would raise their self-esteem... in my opinion, an attractive person is a person with a lot of self-esteem and confidence.
- 1 votes
//10 Oct 12, 2008 04:56 AM | posted by:
maria - I think that airbrushing should stop. they are making girls feel like they are ugly and have no hope when there are moddels looking like that so just make it STOP. Put real women on and then girls will see that you dont have to be perfect to be beautiful.
- 1 votes
//9 Oct 07, 2008 08:41 AM | posted by:
sharaeff [InfoBIG]
- These numbers don't surprise me as we all were ugly ducklings in teenager's age. When our body develops, definite disproportions of the body may be observed (not just in girls...), there's nothing shameful about it. In this period a lot depends on the parents' behaviour and support. They should explain that it's all temporary. Then their ugly ducklings may turn into beautiful swans with high self-esteem.
- 1 votes
//8 Sep 15, 2008 05:56 PM | posted by:
Tammy - I never really thought I was that ugly until my husband in all honesty told me I am butt ugly, what is the definition of a butt ugly girl and what does ugly look like?
- 2 votes
//7 Aug 21, 2008 03:10 AM | posted by:
Jessica - I'm a bit skeptical about this study and how the figures were calculated. If a girl mentioned there were one or two things she didn't like about her looks, did this mean she thought of herself as absolutely hideous? If she sometimes skipped dessert to lose weight, does this mean she has an eating disorder?
As for the insecurities of adolescent girls, feeling self conscious about yourself is part of growing up. (boys swagger and brag to cover up their self consciousness, while girls maybe show their anxieties more openly). Growing up is also learning to accept that there is always going to be someone out there who is smarter, more talented, richer, or, yes, prettier than you are. Are we really doing girls any favours by pretending that this is not the case? - 1 votes
//6 Jul 23, 2008 12:28 PM | posted by:
Reemus the Deemus - "Most young American and British girls are not feeling happy with their body image."
Not surprised. Most young British women I see are overweight. Try eating less and exercising. If this doesn't fit with your "nobody tells me what to do" attitude stop the complaining FATTY! One day you'll learn that as much as you want to, you can't have it both ways. - 2 votes
//5 May 23, 2008 12:30 PM | posted by:
rhondaspok [InfoTOT]
- I tell my two teenage daughters to look closely at the photos on the magazine covers. I took a year of photography classes and they are able to see how photos are easily manipulated by any photoshop program. I took a photo of my boyfriend and reduced the size of his ears, and filled in a small gap in his tooth. No one noticed anything different until I told them. My point is, I tell my kids the truth. The pictures you see are FAKE as can be. Don't worry so much about how "I can never look like that! becuz you know what? they don't look like that either! Research has also shown that if only one male says to a young girl you look great! she will believe it, and feel better about herself. Sad? yes, but if it works I say go for it.
Maybe I'll take a sharpie pen and buy a couple of cosmo or vougue mags and black out one or two teeth on those girls, lol. Then they would be slightly more realistic. And kudos to Jamie Lee Curtis who accepts her flaws as being beutifully human. I wish we as a society could stop worrying so much about pleasing others and be true to ourselves. - 0 votes
//4 Feb 27, 2008 06:54 PM | posted by:
chsorioles2008 [InfoTOT]
- screw the statistics! ALL people are beautiful in their own way...either inside or out. And Ari is right, why cant people stop being assholes. maybe young girls wouldnt feel like that if people would stop putting them down!
- 0 votes
//3 Nov 29, 2007 06:40 PM | posted by:
ari - you know what, thats not a very nice thing to say. and you are the reason why young girls have body image issues. Screw you!
- 1 votes
//2 Oct 09, 2007 06:43 AM | posted by:
Women-Always-Right - Still, to be a woman is better than to be a monkey-like man! All men remind monkeys to me, no matter what they say - if a lady seems ugly - it means they have to wear eye-glasses!
- 1 votes
//1 Oct 09, 2007 06:32 AM | posted by:
grumbler [InfoBIG]
- 77 Percent of Girls Consider Themselves Ugly and 76 percent of them are absolutely right as for what they think about themselves


