Growing up in the 20th and now 21st century, teenagers are bombarded with ideals and images to follow. Women in the media have gone through many phases. It started in the late 1980's and early 1990's when Kate Moss started the "waif" look. Just imagine how women viewed themselves when seeing pictures of a 5'10, 105 pound model strutting down a runway in skimpy clothes. It was finally realized that the "famine" look was passé and men desired more curvy women. Models like Cindy Crawford and Tyra Banks became the "new" ideal promoting bodies that were more voluptuous. Around 1996, the Spice Girls introduced the idea of "Girl Power." Women started to feel more empowered and even tried to improve their self-image. But lurking in the shadows are teenagers who lack self-esteem, who harm themselves to feel pretty and who strive to be someone they are not.
             It is too often that we read stories of teenage girls suffering of serious diseases such as anorexia or bulimia. Girls read magazines. They watch TV. They are constantly exposed to media. This is where the problem starts. Our media today promotes images of thinness, perfection and beauty, most of which are unattainable and unrealistic. I'm not saying that when I look at thin models I don't wish to look like them because I am as guilty as anyone else is. Who wouldn't want to be tall, attractive and thin? The article, "Obsession, for girls..." by Alexa Capeloto found in the Montreal Gazette says, "But girls obsess over everything - whether they are too skinny or too fat, and owning the right name-brand clothes." (A1) Image is everything for most teenage girls. What you wear, who you are friends with and what you look like help classify they type of person you are, whether being popular or not. It's sad to say but looks are one's first impression of a person. Guys say they look at the personality of a girl before looks. Yet if a guy saw an
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