Today's Youths' Desire to Mimic

A video of five preteens dressed in skimpy outfits, provocatively dancing, surfaced on the Internet in May 2010. Nothing surprises us in an era when girls are exposed to less than ideal role models and bombarded with sexualized messages in the media. Children today are more fully immersed in the media than ever before. You can thank the massive scope and scale of the media industries.
The American Psychological Association states, “The proliferation of sexualized images of girls and young women in advertising, merchandising, and media is harming girls’ self-image and healthy development.” There is a link between exposure to oversexualized images with mental health problems in girls: eating disorders, depression and low self-esteem and low self-worth.

In junior high school, I created collages of models from magazines and pasted them all over my bedroom. Although my intention was merely to express myself and my aspirations, all these images did were create emotions of discontent and dissatisfaction with my own body and self-image. Society worships the physical body more than the soul. A survey of high school and college students revealed that both genders generally felt worse about their own bodies after reading fashion, sports, health, and fitness magazines. Once these idolized perceptions are accepted as truth, such as “only thin people are successful,” self-destructive behaviors such as eating disorders, self-abuse, excessive exercising and other destructive behaviors may develop.

Body image is one of the greatest pressures on the minds of teenagers. They are extremely susceptible to media images and celebrity diet stories. Many teens learn quickly that the way to be popular and loved is through the sculpting of their body. According to the National Eating Disorders Association, 51 percent of nine and ten-year-old girls feel better about themselves when they are dieting. By the age of thirteen, 53 percent of girls are unhappy with their body image. And by the age of seventeen, this figure jumps up to 78 percent. Experts warn if we don't do something about the demands, the consequences will be devastating.

Appearance is important, especially to teenagers who are building their identity and confidence. Yet, I believe the amount of emotion and energy poured into desiring the perfect body size and face is a way that person is tempting to fill that “something” which can only be filled by God. Too many of us feel “something” is missing. Many call it a soul-hole.

French philosopher of social science, Dr. Rene Girard, developed the idea of mimetic desires. According to Dr. Girard, the mimetic desire is motivated by an inner sense that “something” is missing. Scripture says, “You want something but don't get it” (James 4:2). His theory is that our desires never come purely from ourselves; rather, they are inspired by the desires of another. Mimesis means identifying with the original and involves some sort of participation. It is not the same as imitation, which suggests simulation or copying.

The mimetic desire describes our ravenous hunger for wholeness. It is so strong that people willingly stuff themselves with fragmented identities. Deep inside they feel “something” is missing. The culture and media machine have done a superb job of getting us all to believe “something” is missing and only “more” of what they offer will satisfy…and we devour the bait. This hole in the adolescent soul makes them a voracious consumer of false gods and images.

Adolescents face many difficulties living in this culture. They must have the support of their parents even when they are distancing themselves from their parents. While we need to give them room to grow and express independence, we also need to stay more involved and closer to them than we’re perhaps used to.

We need to help our youth find real role models from within our own communities, not from the celebrity A-list. Some celebrities can provide indirect inspiration, but the best role models are those who commit to interact directly and on a regular basis. Every town has a group of real heroes who would like nothing more than to be a mentor. Our challenge is to seek out people of character to come alongside our youth, to encourage and guide them, helping them become who God created them to be. Regrettably, they don’t wear a cap or t-shirt that says “Role Model.” These mentors are out there and have a passion to reach this generation.