You are beautiful and unique. It's wonderful living in a world where there are so many different types of people. Sometimes the media doesn't represent these differences. Don't let the images of girls and women in the media be your standard of what is "normal."

The truth is that most of the runway models you see are actually underweight, which isn't healthy. You also need to remember that computers can do amazing things to pictures. The pictures of models you see have been airbrushed and touched up. Things like wrinkles, blemishes, uneven skin tones, sags, bulges, or out of place hairs can be fixed by a computer before going to print.

For TV and movie stars, looking the way they do is a full-time job, and they get a lot of help, too. They have makeup artists, hairstylists, clothing consultants, and lighting experts to help make them look so good. How many girls do you know who have personal and physical trainers? And besides, you have better things to do, like making friends, studying to accomplish your goals, playing sports, and having fun.

A lot of women celebrities work out really hard with their own personal trainers to get their bodies in shape. Working out is good for your body, but many celebrities will train for several hours a day to get the muscular look you see. Most people don't have this much time, and working out this much can be damaging to your body anyway. As you can tell, these standards of beauty set by the media aren't real and can be dangerous.

An Activity

With a group of other girls, find at least 10 photographs of women in advertisements in fashion magazines and use these pictures to talk about the images of women presented by the media. How much do the models in the pictures look like people you know? How are these images different from what you see in real life?