When I heard that 23 year old reality television star Heidi Montag (The Hills) had 10 plastic surgery procedures at once ( forget that she previously had rhinoplasty and breast augmentation) I was astounded. First, I thought “Wow” that’s a lot of work at one time for such a young woman” (who wasn’t in a horrible accident and in need of reconstruction) and second “What doctor in his right mind would agree to do that?”. But it was my third thought that prompted this gathering- All the media talking heads kept saying “What kind of message does this send to young girls, she’s a role model?” It was a good question but I had one more.

Are these women who are marketed at the “Tweens” and young women in their early 20’s really their role models? Are they really holding them up as a “way to be” or does the media create the concept that they should and so we all start to believe it? It’s like a chicken and egg dilemma.

I started to casually ask around and the feedback was not what I expected. So I gathered a group of young women together to gain some perspective on what their perceptions about the images of women marketed to them: The “It” girls like Beyonce, Lady GaGa, Kim Kardashian, and Blake Lively etc. And how those images made them feel about their bodies and their image- did it shape or re-shape their concept of beauty?
It’s really interesting stuff.

Lateefah, Dominique, Ali, Jessica and Christine share their thoughts on the subject.
Here is part 1