Author: Melanie Vollono
It seems that with the recent surge in feminist role models, from Jennifer Lawrence to Ellen Page, the fight for women’s rights is over and done with. Right? We have it all. Outstanding careers, comfort with our bodies, etc. Woo equality!
So why, according to Walden Behavioral Care, have 40% of female college students reported having an eating disorder in the year 2014?
Perhaps it’s the flawless pictures of models posing for…what exactly are they posing for again? After all if we buy what they’re selling, we’ll look exactly like them. Right?
Wrong. Even though campaigns have tried to set up progressive movements like “Love your Body!” it seems that we can only love our bodies if they’re tall, flawless and curvy. After all, who really looks like the girl in the magazine? To quote Girl Code, “Not even the girl in the magazine looks like the girl in the magazine!” In fact, the body type of models represented in the media only occurs in about 5-7% of women. Talk about a Barbie doll complex.
The problem with these ads is that we are being bombarded with them day after day. We let images of “perfect” women determine the standards of how we should look. Social media is rampant with overly modified pictures of girls setting the new stanfards for beauty. It is seemingly impossible to tell what’s real and what’s fake anymore.
That’s why it is so important for us as college aged females to understand the type of women we want to be. We may never be as tall or skinny or perfect as the girls we are surrounded by. But we can be comfortable with who we are, and not become overshadowed by the photoshopped beauties on the TV screen.