Stereotypes Of 'The Teenage Girl' In The Media

A stereotype is a label put on a certain group of people that imply's how that group looks and acts. Stereotypes often prevent people from being who they want to be because people around them assume they have to be a certain way and often those being stereotyped feel pressured into behaving like their stereotype says they should and so they cant express themselves freely and openly. Take for example a teenage girl; there is so many images shown by the media on the stereotypical teen girl. she should be skinny and pretty, have the latest clothes in fashion and a cute boyfriend to match. she needs to be sociable, a real people person and outwardly confident about her appearance. How many girls can actually be this girl? not many and often those girls who try so hard to be 'that girl' often end up as bitchy egotistical girls who think they're better than everyone else. All this stereotype does is make real teenage girls insecure about themselves. I thought the picture on the right showed this. girls can be confident but that makes then conceited,they can be bitchy and yet insecure, lazy yet ambitious, there's so many different combinations of characteristics and personalities so why should we all try and be the same?
Populations are stereotyped through their appearances and their actions. People stereotype because its easy. its easy to see blonde and assume they're dumb, its easy to see a black person and assume they're unintelligent and that they commit crimes, easy to see someone in glasses and think nerd, someone with a tattoo and think bogan. and yes i'm stereotyping right there but those are common stereotypes that are found in everyday life, especially throughout the media. The media uses stereotypes for the same reasons we do but they also use them because they know that audiences stereotype, they cant help it, so it allows them to spend less time explaining things and more time just expressing opinions when people have subconsciously already made judgments. Movies are classic examples of the way media uses and abuses stereotypes. They can put a blonde on screen make her do one dumb thing and shes instantly stereotyped and you know what role she'll take in that movie, its the same with any of the other sterotypes that are common in the cinemas.

Image from
http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/2012/05/weight-stereotyping-the-secret-way-people-are-judging-you-based-on-your-body-glamour-june-2012