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The Importance of Outward Beauty

No amount of body positivity propaganda can change the way most teenagers view

themselves and each other. Every morning, I wake up and see my reflection in the mirror, an

overweight and acne-stricken teenager who struggles to accept himself because of his

insecurities. Everyday I try to fix my appearance by wearing relaxed clothing to cover up my

muffin-top or wearing a hood to shield my pimply face. I have tried every clothing hack that

reduces my flaws in order to make myself appear more ideal. Nevertheless, the current societal

pressure to achieve certain looks set by our role models has changed the way teenagers see

themselves and as a result of this constant pressure, teenagers worry about two things: their own

appearance and how others might perceive them.

Throughout middle school, people have called me degrading names, such as Buddha or

chink. I was hurt by these slurs, but I had support from friends and family telling me that my

appearance was fine and that I should not worry about how others view me. However, I knew

that I would not be treated equally because of my evident abnormalities. The fact remains that I

felt unworthy and I knew that others would still look at me differently because I was not up to

par in terms of fashion. While I managed to get through middle school, I was not fully confident

in myself and who I was because of my appearance.

Now, as a high school student, I have suffered a new level anxiety brought on by having

to fit certain standards that have been created by the media. Specifically, social media has the

power to advertise the most optimal looks through the portrayal of perfect bodies and flawless

skin. But in addition to that, the most obvious aspect that teenagers fail to recognize is the

confidence that comes with these individuals. It appears as though in some form the media has

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used celebrities as a way of promoting this quintessential appearance. As I said earlier, from

personal experience, my life has been influenced to fit societal standards in terms of beauty

because of the media. In addition to my constant efforts of trying to achieve the best version of

myself, I began to look at how much money it took me to achieve these looks. I thought about

homeless teens and how they would respond to this pressure, considering they do not have spare

money to spend on luxury products. I wanted to research the difference ways societal pressure

influences homeless teenagers as opposed to more economically-stable teenagers. This led me to

my question: How does the pressure from society to achieve beauty standards affect the physical

and mental health of homeless teenagers?

While opening the door into SHELTER Inc.–a homeless shelter–the evidently homeless

duo of mother and daughter appeared. The mom wore an unwashed muscle tee, ripped and

stained jeans and flip-flops that were in bad condition. Her daughter wore a dirty-pink tank-top

with jeans, two sizes too big. The room was small and had a musty odor that was partially

masked by febreze. In the back of the room, the kind receptionist and woman were talking.

Although the conversation was muffled, it ended with loud crying and yelling. The woman

wistfully told the receptionist how her daughter and her just needed a place to shower without

anyone taking their stuff. By the looks of the woman’s face, it was clear to see that they would

not be getting the assistance they needed. Despite this, reliance of homeless people on shelters is

tremendous because of the shelter’s work in rehabilitating these people to get back on their feet.

The struggles of homeless people in order to have access to a decent shower or a place to sleep

exemplifies how much more of a burden it is for them to achieve societal beauty standards.

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In today’s world, the increased penetration of the access to internet into current

generation of teenagers has in part, allowed our society to become more

technologically-advanced, but there are several consequences. According to research conducted

by the Kaiser Family Foundation, there is a serious problem that exists: “Kids ages eight to 18

are becoming more addicted to technology, and it is leading to negative consequences, such as

the need for instant gratification, poor face-to-face interaction and risk of depression” (French).

Teenagers, regardless of their social status , are becoming addicted to regular internet use which

leads to them being less willing to interact with others in person. Adding to the severity of this

issue, the access to technology has been exposed to nearly all teens, according to a Pew survey

conducted during 2014 and 2015, “94 percent of teens who go online using a mobile device, do

so daily” (Office of Adolescent Health). When one teen has access to a internet-containing

device, he or she is able to share that with another friend, creating a never-ending cycle. This is

the case for homeless teenagers. From an interview with Theresita Gonzalez, a resource

coordinator for SHELTER Inc., she shed light on t how many of the teens at the shelter do not

have direct access to Youtube or Twitter through a smartphone or computer, but at school, other

teens can show these homeless teens their phones and the video or trend can pass on. To some,

the access to the internet can provide many benefits, especially for educational purposes, but this

widespread access is often easily manipulated.

Society has been able to display any message they want through the use of media and

other networking platforms to target their desired audience, teenagers, and “It is a fact that social

media, television, magazines, movies, and celebrities in general often promote body types and

faces that portray an ideal body type” (Smith). Through the use of apps and different social

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medias society is able to show these teenagers what they should or should not look like. This

creation of societal pressure forces them to reconsider their appearance. Nevertheless, there is

already stress in the life of a teenager, whether it be pressure to succeed in school, play a sport,

sing, dance, have a boyfriend/girlfriend, or do drugs. In addition , homeless teenagers have even

more stress in their lives brought on by family obligations. They are required to do more than

what is being asked so that their families or themselves can meet week’s end. Including the

element of social media into teenage life brings on another level of stress concerning

self-appearance caused by improper exposure of an undeveloped mind.

When the topic of beauty arises, the common association of beauty is with physical

appearance. Social media brings an increased need to transition into someone else in order to

prove to another individual that they are worthy of their attention or in some cases, their love.

This usually comes in the form of buying new clothes to show off one’s wealth or altering one’s

body to become similar to that of a celebrity. As stated earlier, celebrities are known to be more

than beautiful, they are glorified (Smith). In the mind of a teenager, they think that if they lose

weight or wear fancy clothes, they automatically become more attractive to the person they are

trying to attract. This system might work, but what happens when it does not yield the desired

outcome? According to James Wogan, an administrator for school-linked services at MDUSD,

he believes that issues with self-esteem can arise when appearance is not able to do the job.

Homeless teenagers are an example of this condition. They are not able to wear name brands and

due to lack of healthy food, they cannot accomplish the look of millionaire celebrities. Instead,

they are left wearing generic clothing that usually come from donations and do not have the

opportunity to choose their clothing. Again from an interview with Theresita Gonzalez, she says

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that often times, they wear the same garments over and over, resulting in them feeling inferior to

their financially stable counterparts. The inability for homeless teens to wear brand products

magnifies their socioeconomic status.

By looking at the combined pressure from society as a teenager and homeless person, the

difficulty to achieve a certain appearance is greatly amplified. Building off a point made earlier

concerning the access to healthy food options, it is a fact that healthier food are more expensive.

There are many instances of this case, for example, items at a Whole Foods versus items at a

Safeway. Celebrities on social media advertise healthy eating. They say that eating these

products contributes to their slim figures and this increases the pressure for teenagers to buy their

products, “​celebrities affect how we dress, what we buy, and what we watch, it’s natural for them

to have an outsized influence on what we eat and how we take care of our bodies” (Tuttle)​.

Again, from the interview with Gonzalez, she explains how homeless families are given food

donations and this limits their food options greatly. This can cause obesity among the homeless

population because unhealthy food is much more affordable and are easily purchased. In a study

done by a Harvard research group, they found that out of the “5,632 homeless men and women

in Boston… that nearly one-third of them were obese” (One-Third of US Homeless are Obese).

With that being said, Gonzalez also brings up the fact that for homeless teenagers who do have

jobs to support their families, their is simply no time in their day to be used for sports or going to

the gym. The lack of an option for these homeless teenagers to have the opportunity to become

healthier is thwarted by expensive cost of healthy foods and busy schedule of homeless teens.

As children mature into teenagers, their bodies grow not only physically, but also

mentally. They will begin to worry about their body image, how they will act, and what they

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want to be when they are older. This is because, “the rational part of a teen’s brain isn’t fully

developed and won’t be until age 25 or so” (Sather and Shalit). The frontal lobe of the brain, the

area designated for decision making, is still growing and can lead to teenagers making irrational

decisions. This not only provokes teenagers to become depressed by the way they look, but it

also prompts them to become unsatisfied with life and begin to think about isolating themselves

(Pickhardt). But why is there an obsession with appearance and how can it be so influential in the

life of a teenager that it can topple other priorities? During this stage of life that teenagers are

going through, “There is an awakening of sexual interests… There is an increased preoccupation

with managing one’s looks because they can affect how one is identified, how one is treated,

how one fits in, and how one belongs” (Pickhardt). Teenagers of all socioeconomic classes

become consumed by ways to change the way they look and what better option to do that than to

mimic the look of celebrities–successful people who are adored by millions of people. They

become stressed about their appearance that they become shrouded in a cloud of falsity (Prewitt).

Simply put, teenagers are more sexually awakened and to satisfy their desires, they are willing to

make themselves look the best they can as well as increasing their standards for who they are

willing to date.

Another internal struggle that these teens go through is their inability to access quality

education. With many barriers to education, such as taking on a job, further prevents these

homeless teenagers from receiving the best education they can. As part of an interview

conducted with Theresita Gonzalez, she says “the majority of these teenagers would like to

spend their time towards education and making themselves appear more ideal.” With that being

said, the time that homeless teens would put towards their maintenance of their appearance is

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simply overshadowed by more important matters: education and providing for the family by any

means necessary. In addition to education, homeless teens who are in most cases, the older

siblings, take on the responsibility of providing the mother or father role model for their younger

siblings. This causes them to grow up and become more mature at a younger age, allowing them

to surpass the childhood phase earlier (Hallet). Not only are homeless teens struggling to

maintain focus towards school, they are more often than not, needing to provide for their

younger siblings. They know that their parent(s) are working long hours for them to meet the

minimum wage and in some families, even below the minimum wage and because of this, they

respect their parent(s). These teenagers are focusing their resources to help their families get

back on their feet. This can be taking on extra side jobs to help the family or skipping school to

help take care of younger siblings. From all the research gathered from both interviews, it is

evident that homeless teenagers do contemplate about the idea of going from rags to riches, but

are obstructed due to other broken list of priorities.

Besides distractions from education and family obligations, homeless teenagers often

face many forms of bullying. This is caused by the pressure from teenagers who are not

understanding the situation that these homeless teens are in and because of that, they make fun of

the clothes they are wearing or their weight. One example of this incident was from a report from

Gonzalez. She said that one girl, who was at the time part of the homeless shelter, stopped going

to school because she was getting bullied for the way she looked. She said she was made fun of

by other girls because she wore generic brands. This was an incident so traumatic that the girl

contemplated suicide. As seen from this severe example, the pressure that teens face to fit in is

detrimental to their social status at school. Homeless teens are not trying to buy new clothes so

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they look cool, rather they want new things so they will become normal and not be targeted by

more privileged individuals. Again, from Wogan, he says “teenagers are influenced heavily by

what their peers think and homeless teens are more susceptible.” Already present is the pressure

for teenagers to have a popular look, but when a teen does not have that look because of financial

issues, they are scrutinized and bullied.

In any case of bullying or cyberbullying, it is unacceptable and illegal to discriminate

against another person in regards to their gender, sexuality, socioeconomic background, or

beliefs because it creates a situation where one person feels unsafe in a supposedly safe place.

Being homeless can make these teenagers feel like no one else can relate to their situation, which

was originally created by their parents. They become stressed and have a lack of control over

their family, leading them to turn to a outlet, such as alcohol or narcotics. Additionally, they are

indirectly setting an example to their children that if they cannot deal with an issue, they should

turn to narcotics or even gangs:

According to a report, ​The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Special Commission on

Unaccompanied Homeless Youth at the Massachusetts Appleseed Center for Law and

Justice - ​students who are homeless have higher chances of joining a gang, using alcohol

and drugs, experiencing depression, and attempting or committing suicide than their

housed counterparts. (Lilly)

When these teenagers are at the point of where they completely isolate themselves, it is because

they have run out of options. Drugs, alcohol, gang violence, and self-harm did not work, but

what does work is communication. Peer pressure from privileged teenagers is the main factor

that pushes homeless teenagers into wanting to look better. Without anyone to follow these

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trends, homeless teens would not be as pressured to be like teens who are financially stable, but

that is not the case. Instead, homeless teens are trying to buy a look with the lack of money they

have. It appears that communication between parents and teenagers are not only needed for

teenagers to have a positive outlet, but for parents to recognize the current mental state of their

children (Prewitt). Along with this idea, awareness is also needed to help advocate for homeless

teens to not be oppressed. What the general public often forgets is the daily struggles of the

homeless to not be targeted by others. The impact that society has on any teenager regardless of

their economic background advocates for celebrity-inspired look that is particularly difficult to

attain for homeless teenagers.

Throughout this entire research assignment, I gained insight on what it means to be

economically disadvantaged. It does not matter what society thinks of you, whether they believe

that you are good-looking, smart, or dumb, because accepting my flaws will allow me to provide

myself with a shield of self-confidence. The only way another person is able to influence my

thoughts is if I allow them to do so. However that is easy to say when I come from an average

middle class family who has the resources to pay for and change my appearance when I want to.

Homeless teenagers, on the other hand, are already at a disadvantage when they are in high

school. They suffer educational barriers, family obligations, and occupied parents which all

amounts to heightened level of stress as compared to a financially stable teenager. It is hard to

worry about looks when your younger brother is starving or when you do not know where you

are sleeping tonight. With all the pressure to become what society calls normal, these teenagers

do not want their lesser appearance to be magnified for others to pick on them. I believe that

awareness by showing all children and teens the obstacles that homeless people face and what

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they have to do to survive, can truly destroy the pressure for homeless people to fit in. With that,

communication allows the homeless teens to express how they are feeling towards a broad

audience so all can understand their issue. So the next time someone complains about the stress

from society to be skinny, just know that this is nothing compared to what homeless teenagers

endure on the a daily basis.

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Works Cited

French, Maddy. “Technology may have negative social effect on kids”. The Daily Universe. 12

April 2017,

universe.byu.edu/2017/04/12/technology-may-have-negative-social-effect-on-kids/

Accessed 22 April 2018.

Gonzalez, Theresita. Personal Interview. 15 February 2018.

Hallet, Ronald E. “Educational Experiences of Hidden Homeless Teenagers: Living

Doubled-Up”. Routledge, 2012.

Lilly, Kevin. “Fighting to Live: Self-Esteem and Homeless Youth”. Substance Abuse and Mental

Health Services Administration. 19 April 2016,

www.samhsa.gov/homelessness-programs-resources/hpr-resources/self-esteem-homeless-

youth​. Accessed 14 Feb 2018.

Office of Adolescent Health. “February 2016: Teens' Social Media Use: How They Connect &

What It Means for Health”. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 13 May

2016,

www.hhs.gov/ash/oah/news/e-updates/february-2016-teens-social-media-use/index.html​.

Accessed 11 March 2018.

“One-Third of US Homeless Are Obese”​. Harvard Medical School, 16 May 2012,

hms.harvard.edu/news/one-third-us-homeless-are-obese-5-16-12. Accessed 18 April

2018.

Pickhardt, Carl. “Puberty and Preoccupation with Personal Appearance”. Psychology Today. 5

September 2016,

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www.psychologytoday.com/blog/surviving-your-childs-adolescence/201609/puberty-and

-preoccupation-personal-appearance​. Accessed 26 Feb 2018.

Prewitt, Lenard D. “Helping youths on the streets: what one shelter has learned from years of

experience”. Behavioral Healthcare, vol. 26, no. 5, 2006, p. 46+. Student Resources in

Context, ​link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A151379543/SUIC?u=wal55317&xid=ca7de7d6​.

Accessed 14 Feb. 2018.

Sather, Rita, and Shelat Amit. “Understanding the Teen Brain.” ​Content - Health Encyclopedia -

University of Rochester Medical Center​,

www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?ContentTypeID=1​. Accessed 18

April 2018

Smith, Hilary. “Social Media and Body Image Issues Among Teens”. National Safeplace

Network. 20 June 2017,

nspnetwork.wordpress.com/2017/06/20/social-media-and-body-image-issues-among-teen

s/​. Accessed 14 Feb 2018.

Tuttle, Brad. “5 Celebrity-Endorsed Health Tips That Are Total Wastes of Money”. Time. 15

June 2015, time.com/money/3896994/celebrities-dubious-health-products/. Accessed 18

April 2018.

Wogan, James. Personal Interview. 10 March 2018.

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