I can’t turn on my Television, read a magazine, or surf the net with out being bombarded by the airbrushed images of a perfect body. We inhale the idea that a thin body is normal. We believe that this false notion of beauty we see is achievable – just as long as you use this make up, buy these clothes reshape this and shape that. My question is this, “Am I the only one that notices the little tiny writing at the bottom of the screen that says results not typical, results may very?” Yet this is how I’m supposed to look and dress. I’m being told that if I use this or that I will get the love, happiness or success I want. I’m told results are not typical. Of course what they mean is that chances are the results I’m looking for can not really be achieved.
The average model is 5’11” and weigh’s 117 pounds (Body Image). The average woman is 5’4” and weigh’s 140 pounds (Body Image) .When I look around, I see average models not Average Women. I see that thin is in, that thin is beautiful, that thin is perfect. What young lady doesn’t want to be beautiful? Where will beauty be found in a world that doesn’t show what real beauty is.
Perhaps most disturbing is the fact that media images of female beauty are unattainable for all but a very small number of women. Researchers generating a computer model of a woman with Barbie-doll proportions found that her back would be too weak to support the weight of her upper body, and that her body would be too narrow to contain more than half a liver and a few centimeters of bowel. A real woman built that way would suffer from chronic diarrhea and eventually die from malnutrition. It has been estimated that 99% of girls aged 3 to 10 years old own at least one Barbie doll. What a role model (Media Awareness Network).
We see 400 to 600 ads a day. 1 out of every 11 is about beauty directly (Body Image). More than 50% of girls are or think they need to be on a diet (True Beauty). 80 % of women are dissatisfied with their appearance. 4 out of 5 ten year old girls are afraid of being overweight (Shocking Facts). Weight is the last thing a ten year old should have on there mind.
What are we to do with this crime? Should MTV and BET be fire bombing for subjectification and hypersexualization of women’s bodies? Should the fashion world be put to shame with the fact that real beauty isn’t thin it comes from within? Should Seventeen magazines be taken off shelves for it portrayal that thin is beautiful? Should America’s Next Top Model be canceled because it shows girls that beauty is tall and thin? Should advertisements that use women bodies to sell any and everything be taken off the web?
The time it would take to fix these problems would be time wasted and unfairly spent. It’s time for young women to realize beauty comes from within. Women were made to have curves. Bodies are not fashion accessories. “Beauty is not the face; beauty is a light in the heart.” (Heart Quotes) “Beauty is how you feel inside and it reflects in your eyes. It’s is not something physical (Think).” Young women need to let the whole world see their strength and beauty. And if the world can’t see the beauty of their souls, they should know they are beautiful in the eyes that God beholds. I know at times they may get knocked down and even doubt there ability they just need to look in the mirror and say I’m wonderful with humility. And the next time they see a beauty add on T. V. telling them thin is beautiful; they will remember results are not typical.
Work cited
Gibran, Khalil. “Heart Quotes.” Web. 10 Nov 2009. http://www.heartquotes.net/Beauty.html.
Loren, Sophia. “Think exist.com.” 2009. Web. 10 Nov 2009. http://thinkexist.com/quotation/beauty_is_how_you_feel_inside-and_it_reflects_in/220285.html.
Martin, Chris. “Helium”. November 1, 2009 http://www.helium.com/items/1226277-media-influence-on-teen-body-image.
Body Image Advertising, “Healthy Place America’s Mental Health Channel”. November 1, 2009 http://www.healthyplace.com/eating-disorders/main/eating-disorders-body-image-and-advertising/menu-id-58/.
“Find Your true Beauty”. November 1, 2009 http://www.teen-beauty-tips.com/body-image-statistics.html.
“Media Awareness Network”. November 1, 2009 http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/women_and_girls/women_beauty.cfm. “Shocking Facts”. Mind on the Media. November 1, 2009 http://www.mindonthemedia.org/index.php?type=static&page;=shocking.
University of Colorado a Boulder, “Student Wellness”. November 1, 2009 http://www.colorado.edu/StudentGroups/wellness/NewSite/BdyImgShockingStats.html.
