Young girls build relationships with their parents and peers that negatively affect how they see themselves.  In most cases, girls have a close relationship with their parents, which influences their morals and social behaviors.  When a girl sees her parents reflect on women in a negative light, it causes her to think of herself in a similar negative light.  Therefore, she begins to have low self-esteem, feeling as if she is not good enough.  This perpetuates a cycle that will be passed on to her daughter, creating a negative self-image from generation to generation.  In addition to this, girls are always surrounded by negative body talk at home.  Moms are constantly self-shaming their own appearance, which leads to negative self-talk by their daughters.  Lastly, girls want to be accepted by their peers, having the idea that they will gain popularity if they are 'beautiful' and 'thin'.  A girl will take this idea and begin to compare herself to those around her, not understanding that everyone is unique.  This leads to a negative self-image because she will never be exactly like any other girl, therefore, she will never feel as if she is attractive enough, and she will be in a constant battle with her body.  In relation to this, girls are comfortable talking about the body parts that give them low self-esteem around their close friends.  Being constantly surrounded by this negative talk will cause a girl to think negatively all the time, and she will start to see herself in a negative light.  Although all of these relationships can arguably have positive effects on little girls, such as learning how to be social and accepted for diversity, they can strongly outweigh those effects with the negative influences they give off, like negative talk based on ideals for what a girl's body should look like and the idea that little girls should look a certain way to be accepted among their families and peers.

The mother-daughter relationship is a unique interaction, as the mother plays a very important and influential role in a young girl's life.  She is especially influential when it comes to regard for body image and eating habits. (Corning, Gondoli, Hillard, and Morrissey, 2015) When a mother expresses concern for both her daughter's and her own weight and dieting habits, she is teaching her girl that she should only see her body in a negative light. (Corning, Gondoli, Hillard, and Morrissey, 2015) This turns the mother-daughter relationship into a negative one, often without the mother even realizing what she is doing, which ultimately transitions into their relationship during the next stage of life, adulthood and motherhood.  When a girl reaches the stage of motherhood, she begins to see her mom in a new light, as a new mother herself, and she reevaluates the relationship that they have. (Fischer, 1981) From here, the daughter begins to feel closer to her mother, and she unconsciously takes in her mothering style." (Fischer, 1981) This very important transition quickly becomes unhealthy because the daughter takes in the negative body talk from her mother and then translates it onto her daughter, creating a never ending cycle from generation to generation.  In addition to this, without realizing it, mothers cause their daughters to develop a negative body image through negative talk and associations.  For instance, when a mother obsesses about her own body and eating habits, girls take notice. (Heubeck, 2006) They notice the negative comments that their mom is making about herself and they relate it to themselves.  If mom is thinking this about her body, then the girl learns that this is the only way to look at herself, painting a negative picture and creating a low self-esteem.  Sadly, girls as young as preschoolers are taking notice to this, as girls 5 to 8 years old have been interviewed saying that they are dissatisfied with their bodies because their moms' are unhappy with themselves. (Wallace, 2015) Not only do these girls notice what their mothers are saying about themselves, but they take what is said to heart. (Heubeck, 2006) When a girl not only hears what her mom is saying about her own body, but also becomes the target for negative comments, she can't help but develop a diminished body image, seeing herself as not good enough.  This is then translated into the need to do something about her body, which leads to issues such as eating disorders and excessive exercise.  During adolescents, the relationship between mother and daughter can become especially strained.  The problem usually stems from the misunderstanding that mothers and daughters have for each other.  Daughters feel as if they are already a part of something greater than being an adolescent, while mothers see them as a part of the now. (Fischer, 1981) This makes it hard for mothers to understand that girls are seeing who they are now as who they are going to be in ten or twenty years.  When a mother makes negative remarks about her daughter's body, the daughter sees this as a permanent problem, rather than something she may grow out of.  This also leads to the 'quick fixes' of eating disorders and excessive exercising as stated before.  Overall, the mother-daughter relationship can lead to a negative self-image for the daughter because of the great influence that derogatory comments and the unhappiness a mother has, have on a young girl.

Looking at the other side of the parent- child relationship, fathers play just as big of a role in the development of their daughters as the mothers do, especially in the time of adolescents. (Heubeck, 2006) When learning how to see herself and relate to other people, especially those of the opposite sex, a daughter will look to her father.  She takes into account how he treats women and then develops her self-awareness from there.  This influence tends to give girls a negative idea of what men are looking for in a woman, leading to a negative body image.  Being a very influential role model, fathers provide a base for girls' interactions with the opposite sex.  Through the everyday interactions that they have with women, they "provide feedback about which aspects of appearance are important" to members of the opposite sex. (Salafia, Blodgett, and Schaefer, 2014) Seeing her father act derogatory towards women who don't meet the 'ideal standards' of thinness and sexiness, a girl develops a negative connotation with anything and anyone who aren't thin and sexy.  She then relates this to herself, and she begins to see herself as not good enough.  It is very obvious to girls how their dad perceives women in general, meaning that he could tell her that she is perfect the way she is, but the only thing that sticks with her is his interactions with other women. (Heubeck, 2006) Therefore, it is critical that fathers are aware of what they are saying when they come into contact with both thin and sexy women, and women who may not be as attractive to them. (Heubeck, 2006) All in all, when a father only has positive interactions with thin and sexy women, he is teaching his daughter that her only value comes from being thin and sexy, giving her a negative body image.

Everybody wants to have friends and be liked, especially adolescent girls.  Being greatly influenced by their peers, there is a large part of the body image girls develop that is negatively affected.  At the center of this peer-peer relationship is the "objectification theory" which accounts for the idea that girls internalize thinness-related commentary from others after being teased and then view themselves as unattractive objects to the opposite sex. (Salafia, Blodgett, and Schaefer, 2014).  Adolescents is the time when this theory is most in effect because this is the time in a girl's life when relations with peers intensify and more time is spent together. (Salafia, Blodgett, and Schaefer, 2014) Girls at this age are more aware of themselves and therefore, are more aware of the issues that their peers have with their bodies, causing them to have issues with their own bodies.  Friendships, which play a huge role in developing girls, are the closest of the peer relationships, and there tends to be a "culture of appearance." This means that friends are more comfortable talking negatively about their own bodies when they are around each other. (Tergouw) This causes girls to see themselves negatively because there are negative aspects of their friends being pointed out, and they directly relate them to themselves.  Therefore, "girls are more dissatisfied with their bodies when their friends are dissatisfied with their own bodies." (Tergouw) Friendships now become a dangerous breeding ground for negative self-esteem for these girls and they don't even realize it.  In addition to friendships, peer relationships in general are detrimental to body image for girls.  These girls think that everyone around them is evaluating them, as if their appearance defines them. (Tergouw) This inner thought turns into a fear that they do not look good enough for their peers, leading to low self-esteem and negativity towards themselves.  Not only are girls doing this internally to themselves, but they are also receiving criticism externally from their peers.  "Peers are critical" and girls tend to feel that they need to be accepted, to be popular, which is directly associated with physical characteristics. (Tergouw) There is always an internal comparison going on inside a girl's mind, as she compares her physical attributes to the next girl, and then compares their popularities.  If she had the attributes of that girl, then she would look good enough to be popular, but everyone is different and so she will never be exactly the same as any other girl, making her not good enough and giving her a negative self-image. (Tergouw) This unfortunate series of events is being seen in girls at younger and younger ages.  Preschoolers are showing signs of body dissatisfaction as soon as they accomplish developmental task, because of their peers. (Culp-Ressler, 2015) There is a social importance that come from having the peer relationship, but this relationship is causing a comparison of appearance among adolescent girls, causing them to have a negative body image.

The important relationships that are built in a young girl's life, such as parents and peers relationships, have very negative influences on body image.  There are, however, arguments for positive effects that these relationships have on the self-esteem of these girls.  Mothers who constantly see their daughters negatively can influence in a positive way if they are expressing their concerns about their own bodies at the same time.  This is giving the daughter a more buffered feel about weight loss than a feel of personal attack by her mother. (Corning, Gondoli, Hillard, and Morrissey, 2015) A mother dieting may also serve as a form of social support for the daughter who is being encouraged to lose weight, rather than being seen as a 'quick fix' for the weight loss journey. (Corning, Gondoli, Hillard, and Morrissey, 2015) These two influences can be positive, but do not account for the negativity that is brought when they are not being used.  If the mother talks about concerns about her daughter more than herself, there will still be a negative body image that develops with the daughter, and if the mother is using a fad diet, or an unhealthy diet, then she is only teaching her daughter how to use a 'quick fix; that may not work and will lead to more body dissatisfaction.  Last, the type of diet talk can be positive, if it is a healthy diet talk, rather than talk about eating less. (Corning, Gondoli, Hillard, and Morrissey, 2015) For this type of talk to have a positive influence, however, there must only be discussion of eating healthy and nutritious food, and there cannot be any talk of eating significantly less, or less than recommended calorie intake.   These 'positive influences' that come out of the relationships girls have are not always positive because of the limits that come with them.

In discussing all of the negative effects that important relationships have on adolescent girls, there must be somewhere to go from here.  There is, and it involves parents getting involved more in their daughters' lives.  Mothers can work on finding different ways to approach their daughter about body-related issues through prevention and intervention programs. (Corning, Gondoli, Hillard, and Morrissey, 2015) These programs are meant to help prevent girls from going down the paths that lead to eating disorders and to help those girls that are already on these paths.  Fathers can be more attentive to how they are responding to women in the media, and being aware that their daughters are listening. (Heubeck, 2006) They can recognize what type of shows and magazines they are watching and reading, and/or leave lying around the house, knowing that their daughter will see them.  Parents together can involve positive characteristic attributes into conversation in addition to positive physical attributes, such as being smart and beautiful. (Anderson, 2007) This allows girls to recognize that they are worth more than their physical appearance.  They can also keep their daughters busy with enrichment activities and sports, as well as getting them involved in positive organizations that focus on development of character rather than appearance. (Ferguson) Education for body confidence is also something that can be done to help these girls, and parents must emphasize on health rather than weight. (Ramsey, 2014 and Wallace, 2015) Parents need to step up and be better role models, avoiding 'fat talk' so negative messages aren't passed down to their daughter. (Culp-Ressler, 2015 and Ramsey, 2014) Ultimately, parents need to intervene in their daughters live more, giving them the tools to develop a positive self-image, because if they don't, then issues like eating disorders and excessive exercise that lead to malnutrition are only going to continue to grow, as they have been doing over the past few decades.

Having looked at the close and important relationships that adolescent girls develop throughout their lives, it can be seen that body image is greatly influenced.  The everyday interactions that girls have with their parents and peers, which should be building girls up, end up giving them low self-esteem.  Mothers usually aren't able to recognize that they are creating a problem when they openly critique not only their daughter's body, but their own bodies as well.  They don't understand that every word that comes out of their mouths is noticed by their young girl, and when it is all negative self-talk, she learns how to see herself in only a negative light.  This leads to her negative body image, and crates a cycle that will be translated from daughter to daughter in each generation.  Fathers also don't think about the way that they influence their daughters.  When they treat women as objects and only react positively to thin women, girls pick up on it and they believe that men will only react positively to them if they are thin.  This is terrible for the girl's self-image, and she will try to do anything she can in order to be thin enough for a man's ideal body standards.  Last, peers give girls a negative body image through the constant criticism combined with the comparisons that girls make.  Girls feel as if they are always being evaluated and that they need to be accepted by their peers to be 'popular', which will not result in any positive thoughts towards her body.  All of these sacred relationships that adolescent girls have can be empowering and wonderful, but this is impossible when girls are constantly surrounded by negativity regarding women and the standards that are being set by their parents and peers. 


