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Summary Of Teal Pfeifer's Devastating Beauty

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Teal Pfeifer in her short story “Devastating Beauty” discusses the effect of portraying skinny ladies/models that are wear dress size 0 or 1 as the ideal body size in most advertisements. The author points out the fact that,this can be damaging to most women, especially young women who view these adverts. The young women who see these adverts begin to feel displeased with their bodies, and a vast majority of them venture into different kinds of diet. She further emphasized that adult females are not the only ones affected, but also young girls (Pfeifer 2). According to Slim Hopes, about 80 percent of girls below the age of ten have either been on a diet before and have stated that they want to be skinner and more pretty. Now people equate skinny …show more content…

Pfeifer fails to address the fact that these advertisements are not only found in magazines but also on television. Women can decide not to purchase magazines. But how do they control the advertisement that comes up when they are watching the television? Additional means of telling the media besides boycotting, that it is not okay to exploit the insecurity of women and young girls’ needs to be developed. This can be through campaigns or other means. In conclusion, Teal has a persuasive argument. It is social injustice for magazine publishers and advertisers to take advantage of women and young girl’s insecurity in an attempt to sale the products. These images of unhealthy women published cause more harm and ill, than good. It affects both young and old, leads to depression, anorexia, bulimia, low self-esteem. The ultimate power lay in the hands of the people who purchase the magazines, and the moment there is not demand, there will be no supply. Boycotting is definitely an

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In this sincere essay, Teal Pfeifer creates an logical appeal that enlightens readers about the desperate need to boycott the magazines that use impractical female bodies, causing damage to young women. Pfeifer’s analytical evidence promotes an informative tone that makes her more trustworthy. Pfeifer states that according to research of Liz Dittrich, “twenty-seven percent reported that the images of models exerted direct pressure on them to lose weight” (Pfeifer 255). Pfeifer creates reasonable appeal with specific evidence based on studies that have been performed supporting her purpose to inform the reader. This creates an informative tone by including evidence of the situation at hand relating to the amount of women suffrage through the images exposed to them.

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