Undergraduate / Issue of Importance Topic ("advertising strategy") [5]

Okay, as with everyone else I'm attempting to improve on my ~*Issue of Importance*~ essay topic. I'm going to be using it for my UT application (and perhaps another college application, but I may use my other essay), but I think I'll get that auto acceptance thing because I should graduate in the top ten percent of my class. I still wouldn't like for it to look horrible, though. So I was wondering if you guys can help tweak a few things.

I think it's corny and writing isn't one of my strong points. But anyway,

I used to avoid mirrors like a plague. Without fail I would always see my relatively normal-looking face and be reminded of all the imperfections and flaws in my skin and features. Billboards, ads, and commercials would constantly display perfect, airbrushed women going about their daily lives like nothing could phase their beauty, and I was envious. No, I was not being bitter, but as with plenty of young and impressionable girls my age, I also wanted to look perfect. But who should we look perfect for? In this generation, women are constantly judged and approval from others has become more important than approval of self. That is an issue we need to address more often in mainstream media.

The same advertising strategy has not varied to a large extent throughout the past few decades: show happy and attractive people endorsing X product while looking like their lives has been improved tenfold because of said product. What has changed, however, is the growing amount of people who view and can become easily influenced by those ads, conscious or not. A child is not going to see a commercial thinking, "If I use that shampoo, I'll be able to snag a hot guy." On the other hand, they may unconsciously come to the conclusion that they need that shampoo to have gorgeous hair or for guys to notice them. Irrational as it may seem, a sufficient amount of girls tend to think that way.

We are at a period of time where teenage girls are trying to live up to the expectations the media presents. Everywhere we look are photos of models with unrealistic beauty and almost nowhere is the reassurance that you do not have to be flawless to be beautiful. Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty, although rumors state the 'real women' models have been touched up to some degree, is a start in allowing women to accept themselves for who they are. It creates awareness that it is all right to have imperfections or unique aspects to your physical self, because confidence will allow your "real beauty" to shine through.

In fact, that campaign and the blogs I have read on their website, as well as some help from others along the way, has helped me realize the destructive thought pattern I was experiencing every time I saw my reflection. I am at a healthy weight, yet I wanted to be skinnier. My face looks fine, yet I wanted to change many aspects of it. As I came to appreciate what my genes bestowed upon me and substituted my thinking so my only need of approval should come from myself, I became more comfortable with my appearance and worried less about looking good for others. Some are not so lucky, and I see my peers falling victim to it every day: needing full make-up even if they are taking a quick trip to the store, going on diets to satisfy the "ideal" look, and always putting themselves down because they do not look "pretty enough."

Sometimes we cannot escape the image society has put on women today, but reassurance and approval can be the most powerful way to trigger those influenced into being more comfortable with their body. Until the media's general opinion on what is considered beautiful shifts, we need to support each other and give acceptance, one of the greatest gifts possible.

"In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they're still beautiful." Alice Walker

I'm not too fond of the last paragraph and I don't know if the quote fits the context of the paper... but it's been hard to do a conclusion. Essays give me nightmares. Thanks for any help!