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A Lesson Plan from Life Planning Education: A Youth Development Program
Body Image
Purpose: To increase each teen's awareness of his/her physical self and of media influences on her/his self-image and behavior
Materials: Popular
magazines for clipping; scissors and glue; newsprint [two sheets for each
group of four or five teens] and markers; masking tape
Time: 40
to 50 minutes
Planning
Notes: Make
sure you have diverse magazines offering pictures of men and women of varied
race/ethnicity but especially of those to which the teens in the group belong.
Procedure:
- Point
out that many people do not feel proud and confident
about how they look. Some people don't feel good about
their body.
- Form
same-sex groups of four to five youth in each group.
Give each group two sheets of newsprint and a marker.
- Give
instructions for the activity:
- You
will have 20 minutes to complete this activity.
- Make
a list on one piece of newsprint of the parts of the
body that people of your gender often feel dissatisfied
with. Label your list Men often do not like… or Women
often do not like…
- Using
two or three magazines, find pictures of members of
your sex that you think are attractive. Make a collage
of these pictures or your own drawings on the other
piece of newsprint. Add words or phrases that describe
an attractive member of your own sex.
- When
you have finished the collage, tape both the list and
the collage side by side on one of the walls.
- Allow
about 20 minutes for the groups to work, then request
everyone's attention. Ask teens to walk around the room.
read the lists, and look at the collages.
- Ask
everyone to take a seat. Summarize what you see on the
lists and ask thoughtful questions about what the lists
and collages. For example, if several male lists include
height, you might say and ask the following: I notice
that several groups of young men listed height as one
thing men often do not like about their bodies. I see
lots of tall men in the collages. What does that say
about men who are short or of medium height? Can they
still be attractive? Why do you think that only tall
men are attractive?
- Conclude
the activity with the Discussion Points.
Discussion
Points:
- Do
you think that women or men generally more satisfied
with their bodies? Why?
- Where
do we get our ideas about what is attractive and what
is not?
- Did
you find pictures that coincided with your ideas about
what is attractive? If not, what were you looking for
that you couldn't find?
- Are
you affected by other people's opinions about your body?
How do you know what their opinions are?
- Do
media images influence how attractive or appealing we
feel? Does the behavior of people toward we are attracted
influence how we feel? [If youth respond that the attitudes
and behaviors of people of the opposite sex influence
how they feel, be sure to point out that not everyone
is romantically interested in someone of the opposite
sex.]
- Can
we change some parts of our bodies? Which ones and how?
[Circle those parts on some of the lists.] Have we really
changed when we change these parts of our bodies? Are
we better people?
- What
parts of us can we not change? Does our inability to
change some parts of our bodies mean we are unattractive?
Why not?
- What
is it about us that is attractive and that does not rest
on our appearance? [If youth do not suggest these things,
be sure to bring them up: humor, intelligence, friendliness,
kindness, tact, consideration, patience, determination,
compassion. How about our ability to love and be loved,
to be a good parent, student, employee, or employer,
friend, neighbor?]
- What
things can teens do to feel better about their bodies?
[Answers should include supporting each other, paying
less attention to media images, talking to a counselor.]
Adapted from Life
Planning Education, a comprehensive sex education curriculum. Washington,
DC: Advocates for Youth, in press.
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