The impact of beauty tutorials from mass media on young girls

In today’s society young girls are faced with enormous amounts of pressure to portray themselves in a certain fashion. This pressure is strongly evoked from the frequent exposure to social media; more specifically the exposure to the beauty industry. For many years several media outlets, such as magazines which are notoriously known for photoshopping their models by erasing every small imperfection, have been leaving girls with an unhealthy and unattainable definition of beauty. However, presently a new trend has emerged: beauty tutorials. Beauty tutorials, although seemingly unharmful, have long lasting negative effects on their central audience of young adolescent girls, much like other media outlets, due to their content. These effects will in return create ignorant adults who lack essential qualities in order to live a fulfilling life.

These negative effects include; an increase of vulnerability to manipulation, a lack of economic knowledge and lastly a damaged self-esteem. To begin, young girls tend to develop a large deal of confidence in the women they watch in these videos. Many young girls view these women as older sisters or someone they can confide in, which is partially part of the appeal for young girls. This can sometimes be positive, as it gives young girls someone to seek when they need advice. However, this also makes the adolescents who obsessively watch these videos more vulnerable to manipulation by their so called role models. Those who are familiar with the uprising of internet celebrities understand that one can profit upwards of a million dollars creating content for their fanbases. For instance, Zoe Sugg, a popular British beauty guru, makes an estimate of 50, 000 dollars a month through her videos. However, a small portion of that money actually comes from the view count of a video.

More commonly, YouTubers make money by partnering with companies, who pay to have their products featured in a video. This is especially common in beauty videos where one seemingly is innocently talking about their newly found favorite product, but by looking at the description of the video you will find a link from which they acquire a percentage of the purchases. Some of these young girls hold such a strong adoration for these influencers that they will blindly purchase any product they advertise without realizing they are being manipulated. Consequently, these young girls are turned into nothing more than consumers by their idols, who are benefiting at their viewers expenses. Clearly, not every creator is attempting to mislead their audience however it is something that these young girls are in danger of by watching these videos. In relation, to the manipulation girls may face from their role models, these videos tend to teach girls the opposite of fiscal responsibility. Nearly every tutorial, different products are used, and as many makeup fanatics understand, high quality cosmetics are not cheap. On average women spend approximately 15, 000 dollars on cosmetics during their lifetime, Due to numerous amounts of endorsements and sponsorships, the likelihood that the creator actually paid for the majority of these products is unlikely. However, for many young girls, it is both impractical and unrealistic to afford all these products.

Much of the target audience of these videos most likely cannot afford to irrationally go out and spend hundreds of dollars on makeup, as they are not yet financially independent from their guardians. However, while being aware of this fact, beauty vloggers still choose to actively attempt to tempt their viewers into buying more and more. Considering that many young girls worship these content creators, this persuasion is highly effective. A study by Defy Media shows that a whopping 63% of those surveyed between 13-24; have or would consider purchasing a product they have seen recommend by a YouTube star. By engaging in these videos, young girls are being taught unhealthy consumption habits that will likely affect them as they grow up. Lastly, many girls who watch these videos end up comparing themselves to the women in them. This can be harmful for a multitude of reasons. For one, young girls might find themselves comparing their looks to the looks of the women in these videos, and this could be detrimental to their self-esteem.

The women in these videos often have little diversity in regards to their looks. Many sporting the same white skin, slim body and clear skin. The lack of diversity present in these videos is showing girls that if your looks do not fit into this mold, carefully constructed by society, you are not considered beautiful. Wealth and success is often falsely associated with this specific mold, this idea is only being reinforced by these YouTube beauty videos. Young girls may get the impression that it is a realistic goal to make a living off of one’s beauty. Thus, showing that superficiality is the key to success, a damaged self-esteem can lead to girls taking drastic measures in order to make their body more ideal and could lead to many interconnected issues such as depression and eating disorders. In conclusion, it is evident that beauty tutorials, can have long lasting negative effects on their central audience of young adolescent girls, and thus, causing them to develop negative characteristics that will ultimately create uneducated and unfulfilled adults. These characteristics include, but are not limited to, vulnerability to manipulation, lack of fiscal responsibility and a damaged self-esteem. Subsequently, it goes without saying that much like magazines and television shows, beauty tutorials are detrimental to the psychological well- being of adolescent girls, and thusly should be avoided at all cost.