The Skinnier, The Better?

 The average morning of a teenage girl consists of popping out of bed, hitting the snooze button, and bursting with confidence ready to take on the day ahead. She meanders to her closet, pulls out a super fabulous dress, that of course looks amazing draped over her slender body, and tosses it on. Looking in the mirror, all she needs is one hair flip and her luscious blonde locks flow down her back in a perfect manor. While she gazes at her glowing bronze skin, long limber legs, and teeth as white as ivory she thinks to herself “Dang girl, you’re lookin’ HOT today!”

Just the morning of your average teenage girl, right?

WRONG.

 American Media such as: T.V., books, magazines, movies, and billboards tell us that this and only this is “beautiful”. A society striving for perfection expects nothing less from its inhabitants. But is this right? Is it okay for girls to starve themselves? Force themselves to puke up their food? Despise the person staring back at them every single time they look in the mirror all because the media tells them that if they don’t fit a certain mold, they’re hideous?  This is most definitely NOT okay. EVER.

“Just be you”. “Oh yeah, no problem! Even though every page of my fashion magazines tells me this double zero model is gorgeous, I’ll just be me.” Let’s be real— how can one expect a girl to feel wonderful about herself when society is drilling into her head “Sorry, but you just aren’t good enough."

Maybe if normal sized people were chosen for clothing ads, movies, commercials, and television shows girls would understand skinnydoesn’t equate to pretty.Of course we want to influence our youth to be fit and healthy, but since when did five percent body fat and ribs protruding from our bodies become ideal.

Teenage girls have gone to many lengths to achieve the perfect body image that is expected of them. Studies show 10 million people have some type of eating disorder. Two common types of eating disorders associated with teenage girls are:

Anorexia Nervosa

• excessively thin
• refusing to keep a healthy body weight
• consuming fear of gaining weight
• a body image that is distorted and self-esteem heavily reliant on body weight
• denial of unhealthy low body weight
• restricted eating habits

Bulimia Nervosa

• maintain proper weight but are extremely scared to gain weight and dwell on losing it 
• uncontrollable binge eating which leads to vomiting up food out of guilt/fear
• use of laxatives, excessive exercise, and fasting

Its alarming how common these life-threatening and horrendous illnesses are. No, media is not the sole cause for this; though it certainly isn't helping teenage girls maintain proper nutrition. Eating disorders such as these stem from obsession with body weight and shape. When teenage girls see these sickly skinny models and aspire to transform their bodies to look like them, how can we not expect the battle of the perfect body shape to consume their lives? Media shows girls that if they are skinny they'll get more attention from boys, have more friends, and feel better about themselves. With  all of the benefits they assume go along with being skinny, suddenly throwing up their meals and depriving themselves of food until they reach their goal doesn't seem like such a high price to pay.

Seeing unbelievably skinny models and actresses, it's hard for teenage girls not to compare these women to themselves. Scrutinizing every inch of their body and wondering why theirs doesn't even look remotely close. When this is all teenage girls see it takes a low blow to their self esteem. When they're told "If you don't look this way you're undesirable, inferior, and gross" they begin to feel worthless. Is that the message America should be sending to the youth? If we pride ourselves on being a nation with unique people who are all different sizes shapes, ethnicities, and religions then what is the point of pressing society to conform to one mold?

 

   

     What makes weight pressures hypocritical and horrible is half of the time these skinny models are airbrushed or have to take desperate measures of their own to look the way that they actually do. That hot and flawless model on the cover of your favorite magazine isn't as perfect as one may think. If exceptionally beautiful individuals aren't even acceptable enough to star on the cover of a magazine in her natural state, then how can a teenage girl feel comfortable in her natural state? Thanks a bunch Photoshop. Even when girls are full of innocence and starting to comprehend the world around them they're deceived about actual body size.  Studies were done showing that if one was to recreate Barbie in human size her dimensions would be so distorted she couldn't actually live. What kind of message is this sending our youth? Their childhood dolls they idolized aren't even legitimate.

Here's a challenge for today's teenage girls: Embrace you!

-Think about it. There is no one out there that is exactly like you. You're one of a kind; You're beautiful.

-Don't sweat miss double zero on the front of your Vogue, she doesn't actually look like they portray her.

-Focus on what makes you wonderful. Not chiseled calves and slender mid sections-- who you are on the inside.

-Don't forget to tell yourself the things that make you great, your talents, your best qualities.

“I think happiness is what makes you pretty. Period. Happy people are beautiful. They become like a mirror and they reflect that happiness.”- Drew Barrymore

http://www.sirc.org/publik/mirror.html