Dearest lovely women of the internet,
Throughout the last year or two, I’ve really become interested in how celebrities and models look so perfect in magazines, ads, etc. I obviously knew there was editing involved, but I figured that there had to be more to it. After a simple google search of “ what’s wrong with society’s ideal image of female beauty?”, I was exposed to all the ways that they deceive us and make us think that these models/ celebrities are so picture perfect, but they are really just like us! I’d like to share with my family and friends, the research that I did and also make a pledge in hopes that all the women in my life will agree to it, because being YOU is BEAUTIFUL.
As females, unfortunately it’s pretty normal for us to compare ourselves to other females. I was curious as to how this starts, why it begins, and what happens because of us having a distorted body image that we think we need to look up to. Lexie and Lindsay Kite, twin sisters that run a website called “BeautyRedefined.net”, have published a handful of articles about their experiences, stories, and research done involving the media and how it decieves us as consumers. The sisters hate the fact that celebrities and models are either underweight (or extremely thin) and if a female doesn’t fit the medias “average look”, then the photo editors will digitally manipulate their bodies to fit the extreme standards. For example, in one of Britney Spears’ photoshoots, she had average size legs and and pretty darn flat stomach, but apparently the editors didn’t think she looked skinny enough. Therefore, they slimmed her legs down a few sizes and shrunk her waist to a much smaller size as well, when she didn’t need the editing at all, she looks fantastic for being a mom! (http://www.beautyredefined.net/speaking-engagements/)
Not only are photoshop and photo editing factors that deteriorate females in today’s society, but media has a HUGE affect on the way girls think about their bodies/ self image. Every single day, adolescents are exposed to a handful of different social media websites, including facebook, instagram, twitter, tinder, tumblr, and so many more. Think about how many pictures are put out there that young girls end up comparing themselves to… there’s a lot. This makes the girls become dissatisfied with their bodies, which in-turn leads to many cases of anorexia or bulimia. (http://www.webmd.com/beauty/style/helping-girls-with-body-image). Going along with that, I researched questions such as “Why do women hate their appearance” and “ Is social media bad for teen body image?”. Carolyn Ross wrote an article on http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2012/06/02/why-do-women-hate-their-bodies/ , about how the “ideal body image” has changed so drasticaly over time and how extreme of a negative effect media has on adolescent girls today. Ross explained that in the past, models weighed only 8% less than the average every day woman, but today, models weigh a gross 23% less than average women. 42% of 1st through 3rd grade girls reported wanting to lose weight, and 81% of 10 year olds are afraid of becoming fat. Now you can see how unhealthy that really is for us to being seeing on a daily basis.
In correlation to that, the TODAY show interviewed a teenage girl named Caroline Knorr, discussing the topic of “Is social media’s ‘camera-ready’ pressure bad for teen body image?”. Caroline talks to the host of the interview and finds out the sickening statistic that more than 80% of 10 year old girls have been on a diet or tried to stop eating in order to lose weight. Ms. Knorr expressed talks about how social media is negatively influential on young girls because of the trends like “rating” each other on facebook and instagram. Knorr said, “They bare themselves and beg for feedback on formspring.com and ask.fm, they edit their selfies with a handful of apps - free or not - that makes them look ‘picture perfect’ and they explore different ways to improve their online image” (http://www.today.com/style/social-medias-camera-ready-pressure-bad-teen-body-image-2D79601219).
In addition to model’s sizes shrinking drastically, stores have also altered their sizes to be smaller. The writers from http://www.rehabs.com/explore/womens-body-image-and-bmi/ informed the readers that at least 1/4th of models have a weight that is considered clinically anorexic. Stored used to say plus sizes were sizes 12-18, now plus sizes are said to be 6-14. Not to mention the fact that designer fashion stores only range up to about sizes 10 (or sometimes 12, depending on the designer). This makes it pretty easy to see why today’s “thin ideal” causes anxiety, depression, anger, and obviously the dissatisfaction of women and their bodies.
After reading so many negative things about this topic, I researched what we, as a society, could do to help make a difference. I found one website that was very absorbed in this part of the research. At http://www.brown.edu/Student_Services/Health_Services/Health_Education/nutrition_&_eating_concerns/eating_concerns/, they give tips on how our society can boost body image from the outside, looking in! For physical appearance, they said the #1 thing to stop doing is comparing yourself to others, we each have our own body type and will never be satisfied with ourselves if we continue to want to look like others. They also say to not judge yourself by what the scale says, and to become (or remain, if already) active! You’ll genuinely feel better about yourself after a nice workout! Another point they made was to wear clothes that fit you correctly, and that you like. Don’t wear clothes that other people like, just to fit in, being YOU is BEAUTIFUL.
To feel better about yourself internally, the researchers at Brown University said that we should refrain from any type of negative thinking because it just brings us down. We should surround ourselves with positive people who don’t focus on physical appearance. And in order to manage stress about this topic, we should avoid “fat talk”, meaning the people that like to engage in conversations having to do with fat people or bringing others down for being unhealthy.
Lastly, the researchers noted that we need to teach ourselves to realize that all media and messages from the media are constructs and NOT reflections of reality. A good way to teach yourself to see the beauty in every body, is to enjoy fine art collections that celebrate the different body types proudly.
In conclusion, I learned an immense amount of information from doing this research project. The topic interests me because I see false advertisements of these models and celebrities every single day, and I’ve come to learn that they aren’t as picture perfect as they’re made out to be in the magazines or ads. Every adolescent girl see’s these and it corrupts them to believe that that is what they should look like, which completely destroys their confidence and happiness with being themselves. I have hope that after you’ve read what I’ve put together after my research findings and been opened up to the facts about this topic, you will reconsider looking in the mirror and pointing your your “flaws”. We all have them, we’re all unique in our own way, and being US is being BEAUTIFUL.