From the time females are exposed to any sort of media, whether it is television, magazines, music videos or blogs, they are taught through verbal and nonverbal expression that being thin is the ideal way to look. Take the Annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show for instance. I am pretty sure more girls drool over those models than men do. With this being said it has had a reflection on the female population causing approximately 80% of American women to be dissatisfied with their appearance.
Take any mainstream magazine article, or hip new music video. I can bet you that you will find at the very least, one cover, advertisement or article that portrays a thin (usually VERY thin) woman either modeling seductively with a male or giving the ever most perfect smile. What does this mean? That only stick thin woman can have intimate relationships? Being thin means being happy? Not quite.
However, females dwell on these shows, videos and advertisements. Pick up the latest Glamour magazine and the cover is featuring a model weighting 115 pounds surrounded by headlines stating “How YOU can look this good” or “How to lose 10 pounds this week!” This subconsciously makes any women feel like being thin is in and anything else is clearly out.
Maybe that is why eating disorder incidents are increasing. Two to three in one hundred American women are suffering from bulimia, one in two hundred American women suffer from anorexia and nearly half of all Americans know someone with an eating disorder.*
How come fashion models are thinner than 98% of American women while they are being portrayed to us as “beautiful” or “attractive” or a “motivation”? 2% of a population should not be our goal to fit into.
My thinking: No woman should ever feel the need to be “thin” just to feel attractive or “in”. Beauty should not be defined by the numbers on the scale, rather your personality and what you offer to this world from within. When it comes down to it, as long as you take care of your body by living a healthy lifestyle, whatever comes out of that whether it is curves, muscular thighs, chicken legs, larger midsection, slimmer midsection… you have a right to respect yourself. I think our society today needs to stop focusing on the idea of beauty being your features on the outside, not giving the opportunity to see someone’s beauty on the inside.
I feel that pop star Adele says it best being quoted saying “I like looking nice, but I always put comfort over fashion. I don’t find thin girls attractive; be happy and healthy. I’ve never had a problem with the way I look.” That is the way it should be. I think us girls would start seeing a change in our happiness when we stop dwelling on numbers on a scale, how many bones we can get to stick out of our skin or frown upon those who don’t meet those expectations. True happiness comes from just being yourself, indulging in what you want, living in good health and respecting your one of a kind body.