Presentation Reflection

Marina Moussa

I gave this presentation in AP Lang during my junior year. The assignment was to

give a presentation on any subject that interested us to the rest of our class. All we had to do

was to persuade them of something, to formulate an argument that would convince our

audience to take on the same opinion or viewpoint as us. The topic of this presentation was

self image, the media, and conformity. In this presentation, my group spoke about the toxic

hold that the media holds on the way both men and women perceive their bodies and self

image. I chose this artifact because of the impact it had. First, it had an impact on me in that I

realized the importance of the way I view myself and that I should not allow tuned pictures of

other beautiful women change my interpretation of how I see myself or affect how I dress or

present myself. Second, it had a moving impact on many people, especially the females in my

class as they were comforted with the message that they were enough and that they did not

need to change anything about themselves in order to know their beauty.

This presentation allowed me to grow as a student because I practiced speaking in

front of an audience. Public speaking is the foundation of a lot of our education and meetings

in the workforce so growing in that skill was very beneficial. This skill will impact my future

education in that I will be able to orally convey my knowledge as well as through writing for

any type of exam. In addition to that, when I get a job, I will need to be able to convey my

thoughts to the people I work for and those I am helping.

A personal reason why I chose this artifact is that there were times in my early high

school career where I really struggled with my self image and comparing myself to other

women and deciding that my own beauty was not enough. By giving this presentation, I not

only reflected on that difficult time but I also played part in helping people not fall into the
same trap as I did, even if just for a moment. An important lesson I learned from this

presentation is that being different is something that should be celebrated and that the way I

view myself should remain grounded and not swayed by what the media conveys or what

society commonly sees as beautiful. My self worth comes from within and my faith that God

made me perfect just the way that I am. Those values that were being shaken for a while were

strengthened within me. This information is practical in my life because it allows me to not

take the media at first glance but to analyze its intentions to know exactly how it should affet

me, if at all.

This artifact allowed me to understand myself more in that I was able to address and

reflect on my insecurities but also in my sometimes blind belief in the media. Everything

should be analyzed because often times the media has its own agenda that we unknowingly

can fall victim to. So, because of this assignment I grew as I saw myself as I was and was

proud of it. I also grew in the sense that I was more cognisant of the underlying messages in

the media and how to protect myself from some of those traps. This new understanding will

allow me to act differently daily. I am more motivated to fight self deprecating thoughts and

am more aware of my surroundings. That way I can form my own opinions and not be shaken

by the opinions of the media or the rest of society.

In this presentation, I was able to explore the relationship between the media,

conformity, and body image. I learned to not want to be like everyone else but to embrace my

own unique identity. I learned to see myself as perfect just the way I am. Finally, I learned to

not take the media in at first glance but to analyze and read between the lines to see what

people are trying to say. That way I can stay consistent to my own values by not blindly

accepting those of others.