My interest in this topic stems directly from experience.  Having worked in retail, specifically working with little girls, for four years, I helped many types of girls, all having different body shapes.  A lot of these girls would enter the fitting room feeling excited about what they've picked out, only to come out in tears because their "arm fat" was showing.  This broke my heart every single time, but I frequently heard mothers and family members commenting on how the little girl is a little pudgy behind her back.  I couldn't help but wonder what they were saying to her face.  I truly don't think parents realize how much words can affect their daughters' self-esteem.  In my life, for instance, my mother has always commented on my body.  When I lost some weight, I was too skinny, and when I gained weight I needed to keep myself in control.  In addition to this my mother would comment on her own dissatisfaction with herself.  From this experience, I have learned that it is hard for girls to gain confidence when they have people telling them that they aren't ideal.  I feel very strongly that little girls should be taught that they are beautiful no matter what.  Now if they are unhealthy, then that is a different situation, but if the girl simply doesn't fit what others classify as the standard, then it is simply ridiculous for these girls to feel bad about themselves.

Little girls have everyday influences that affect how they see themselves.  Not only do they notice how their mothers and fathers negatively treat the overall perception of women, but they are very much aware of the negativity their peers have towards topics related to body image, such as weight and clothes.  Perhaps one of the most shocking places the negativity can be seen is in the role models presented to these girls at a young age, specifically the Disney Princesses.  Although all of these influences can have positive effects on little girls, they can strongly outweigh those effects with the negative influences they give off, such as unrealistic ideals for what a girl's body should look like, how looks identify personality, and the idea that little girls should look a certain way to be accepted among their families and peers.

Sources:

The first source is an article from WebMD.  It is called "Helping Girls with Body Image" by Elizabeth Heubeck and reviewed by Loiuse Chang, MD.

This article discusses how the way a mother expresses her own body image is picked up by her daughter and translates into her own ideas about what a woman should look like.  Another major influence is the father, as his daughter sees how he depicts women, translating into how she feels about herself.  The article tells parents that the best way to help their daughters is to get involved and be conscious of what they are saying and how they are portraying themselves and women in general.

The body image of young girls, particularly daughters, is at stake in this article.  These girls will see themselves based on ideas that parents relay to them.  Not only will they pick up on them, but they will incorporate those ideas into how they ultimately treat themselves.  If this turns into negativity, there could be harsh effects that have the potential to turn into a lifelong struggle. (i.e. eating disorders, body dysmorphia)

The author of this article comes from a credible source, WebMD, which is backed by doctors.  In addition to this, she has Louise Chang, a doctor, review her article, giving her more credibility.  As a woman, she may have bias in the way she feels about body image and how she handles the subject in her household. Although it is not indicated if she herself has a daughter that she directly influences.  Chances are, she has a little girl somewhere in her life that she could potentially be influencing.

This is an article on the way peers influence a young girl's body image.  It is called, "Peer Influences on the Body Satisfaction of Adolescent Girls: Where Do We Go from Here?"  The author is Marloes van Tergouw.

The article depicts the different ways that peers can influence young girls and the way they see themselves.  The author discusses how there is an appearance culture among friends, where girls in friends groups that frequently discuss negative body image, such as weight loss, are more susceptible to a negative body image.  She also discusses how peer evaluation and acceptance plays an important role in the way a girl sees herself.

The major values at stake here are the mentality and ideas of the young girl.  She encounters her peers on nearly a daily basis and, therefore, is unable to escape their negative influences.  Although not every peer is a negative influence, the ones that are will stick in her thoughts and have a greater effect on her.  The negative typically outweighs the positive.

The author of this article may be a student of some sort, although this is not indicated.  Her credibility comes from the sources that she uses and frequently acknowledges in her article.  The reader can tell that she has researched this topic and knows what she is talking about.  The article is also published and/or stored in an online library site, which gives the credibility of being published at least somewhat professionally.

This article discusses the effect Disney Princesses have on little girls.  It is called, "Fairytale Dreams: Disney Princesses' Effect on Young Girls' Self Images," by Ashley Bispo.

The content of this article revolves around the idea that Disney Princesses set an unrealistic standard for little girls.  The author discusses how the stereotypes of Disney Princesses show girls that they not only need to have certain physical characteristics, but that those characteristics depict a more positive personality.  Therefore, appearance determines personality.  It is also mentioned in the article that girls feel that they need to be like these princesses because their peers have accepted them as the "norm".

The opinions of each little girl is at stake in this article.  Girls are exposed to Disney Princesses at very young ages, meaning that these ideals are starting to form from very young ages.  The more these little girls are exposed to the unrealistic princesses, the more dissatisfaction they will have with themselves when they are older, according to the article.

The author is an undergraduate student at Rutgers University, as indicated by the site the essay is published on, as well as note at the beginning of the article indicating writings of undergraduate students.  She gains her credibility in the research that she has done and indicates throughout her article.  She has used her resources to help show her knowledge of the subject.  She may be biased as a woman, but this also gives her more credibility on the subject.

Reflection:

With this research question, it could be argued that there are many implementations that have been made and are continuing to be made to help girls have a positive body image, such as the new Barbie's that have recently come out and groups that have been formed to show girls how to see themselves in a positive way.  These things have been and are still being done, but there are also still so many factors that will continue to negatively influence girls.  All of the sources agree that there is an issue with body image, as they all focus on the fact that there are  negative impacts which determine how little girls' view of themselves.  Their disagreements would come from their different topics, as they all focus on different aspects of influencing body image.  These different perspectives all solidify my feelings that there is a problem here, and that girls shouldn't have to deal with these issues continue to do so.  These influences are everyday things that most people don't think of when they think of negative influence for girls, which makes it even tougher for intervention to occur.  How can a solution be met if people aren't recognizing the problem?  In the future I may revise my research question into focusing specifically on everyday influences that affect the body image of little girls, rather than influences in general.

