It's no secret that when it comes to reality television, the more
sex, drama, and shock factor, the higher the ratings. Basically, the more unrealistic a reality
television show is, the more successful it is.
Research shows that heavy TV watchers are more likely to perceive the
television world as similar to reality.
And consistent exposure to reality television is linked to negative body
image and unrealistic expectations.
When the Kardashian Empire began, their target demographic was females between the ages of 18-40. However, when Kylie Jenner blew up and became
the “most influential sister” the actual
demographics of the Kardashian’s fan base changed to females ages 12-34.
Kylie’s fan base is majority females ages 12-17. As a 26 year old female I am able to watch Keeping Up and see through the
superficial messages and unrealistic beauty standards the sisters place on
themselves. I just roll my eyes and move
on... But what about the millions of young impressionale
girls who watch the show, follow Kylie Jenner on social media, and view her as
a role model?
When she was 17, Kylie received a lot of attention over the
drastic change in the fullness of her lips.
She addressed the rumors that she had had work done in Cosmopolitan magazine
by saying her “lips are a product of maturity and the art of makeup.” Other
members of the Kardashian clan backed Kylie, saying that she was simply “over
lining” her lips.
Several teens took to twitter to share a natural way to get Kylie’s
lips by putting their lips into a small glass container and sucking in as hard
as they could. Que #kyliejennerchallenge. This led to others trying the natural method
and posting their results on social media.
Unfortunately, this “natural” method actually injures your lips and can
cause severe pain and bruising as shown in the photos below.
FINALLY, when she was “tired” of all the buzz surrounding her lips…
she admitted to the public that she had indeed received lip injections in order
to achieve her sought after pout. But
don’t worry about Kylie, like many other celebrities she capitalized on the
hype. In 2016 she launched
KylieCosmetics.com where she creates and sells Kylie Lip Kits along with other
makeup products- it’s estimated she has made $8.7 million from sales alone in
the past year.
This isn’t a blog to bash the Kardashian/Jenner family or to say
that reality television is horrible and you should refrain from watching
it. The purpose is to identify the
platform that young reality stars are given at a time when it’s hard for them
to comprehend the influence they have over young people. If you think about it, they have so much pressure on them to look good at all times, and are being told by producers behind the scenes to be more aggressive in their confrontations: to up the drama. The reality they portray is skewed to produce higher ratings, but when adolescent girls are exposed to it constantly it can cause them to create unrealistic expectations for their own reality.
We can talk about the relational aggression portrayed on Dance Moms, the substance abuse linked to Teen Mom, and young daughters of housewives denying plastic surgery rumors all day… but we can’t really blame the girls. After all they are still trying to figure out their own identity and are impressionable themselves. What we CAN do is monitor the amount of time our adolescents are spending watching reality television and who they are following on social media. We can encourage them to think about and set standards for the people they view as role models. And, we can educate them about the unrealistic elements of reality television and how it can influence how we perceive our own reality.
We can talk about the relational aggression portrayed on Dance Moms, the substance abuse linked to Teen Mom, and young daughters of housewives denying plastic surgery rumors all day… but we can’t really blame the girls. After all they are still trying to figure out their own identity and are impressionable themselves. What we CAN do is monitor the amount of time our adolescents are spending watching reality television and who they are following on social media. We can encourage them to think about and set standards for the people they view as role models. And, we can educate them about the unrealistic elements of reality television and how it can influence how we perceive our own reality.
The sexualization of girlhood in the media is real and we can see that with Kylie and Kendal Jenner. Young girls are suddenly in a knock down drag
out race towards womanhood before they even reach puberty. This day in time people are going to alter
their bodies, especially those who have a camera in their face all day every
day. But, I can’t help but wonder what
would have happened if Kylie Jenner had been transparent about her insecurities
from the beginning and honest about her journey to overcome them. When celebrities deny obvious cosmetic changes to their body it is just as deceiving as digitally editing photos, and sets an impossible beauty standard for young girls to compare themselves against. So there you have it.. the unrealistic world of reality television.
A few questions to think about:
- How do you feel about young reality stars being forced into the public eye when they are still trying to figure out who they are?
- How do the television shows you watch and the celebrities you follow on social media influence you?
- What can we do about it?
