Mirror, Mirror,
On the Wall. . .
By Risha
When I look in the mirror I don't see the
same image paraded on the cover of Cosmopolitan
or Vogue, primetime television, blockbuster
movies or on the red carpet at the Grammy's.
I'll probably never make the cover of the
ever-popular Sports Illustrated swimsuit
issue. I don't see me gracing the pages of
Victoria's Secret catalogues in the near
future either. What I do see, however, is
a young woman of color that doesn't fit the
mold of "standard" beauty. I'm
fine with that. I accept it and revel in
it because I love who I am and the way I
look. But in essence, I wonder what is the
standard of beauty and who determines that?
In
America, it seems beautiful is thin. Madison
Avenue's fashion savvy display this "beauty" year
after year and influence pop culture into thinking
that "beautiful" is one-dimensional.
The average woman sees 400-600 ads per day,
and by the time she turns seventeen, she has
received over 250,000 commercial messages through
the media.[1] Most
ads sell their products targeting adult women
and teenage women using
the idea
of beauty to move products off the shelves.
Some researchers believe that advertisers intentionally
normalize unrealistically thin bodies in order
to create an unattainable goal, which causes
consumers to buy constantly.[2]
The fact that the diet industry alone generates
$33 billion
in revenue suggests that these researchers
may be right. Consistent exposure to female-oriented
commercials and ads may influence young women
to become self conscious about their bodies
and to obsess over their physical appearance
as a measure of their worth.[3]
The trend toward
being slim, skinny and even anorexic in order
to fit the American standard
of beauty is as scary to me as it is unhealthy.
Many women strive for the thin ideal because
they are unhappy with their bodies. Failure
to resemble fashion models, who weigh considerably
less than the average female, causes insecurity
in many young women. The obsession with being
thin is believed to play a role in triggering
eating disorders.
Anorexia nervosa is an eating
disorder affecting mainly young women, although
men can also suffer
from it. It usually begins during the teenage
years. Anorexia is self-induced weight loss
caused by avoiding fattening foods and may
involve taking excessive exercise, using laxatives
or diuretics or inducing vomiting. There is
a strong, almost overwhelming fear of putting
on weight, with sufferers preoccupied with
the shape or size of their bodies.[4] Detrimentally
thin, anorexia sufferers continue to pursue
an extremely low ideal weight considerably
lower than the body weight healthy for their
height. Adverse effects of this disorder include
hormonal disturbances and, usually, women with
anorexia nervosa stop having periods. Severe
cases of anorexia may result in osteoporosis
(fragile bones) and damage to the heart, liver,
kidneys and brain as a result of long spells
without adequate intake of food. Anorexia can
impede growth in the young and cause difficulties
in concentration. People with anorexia nervosa
may also experience mental health problems
such as depression and increased risk of suicide.
Anorexics who do not receive treatment may
become chronically ill or even die.
Every aspect
of pop culture from magazines to the entertainment
industry reflects this
obsession with being thin. Cover after cover,
and one movie and television show after another
portrays images of slender women. While we
may envy Janet Jackson's abs and slender physique,
it is not realistic nor is it healthy to harm
our bodies to look just like her. Janet, like
most entertainers and television/movie stars,
has costly personal trainers and exercises
her body for hours to obtain the look she wants.
Some entertainers even have costly cosmetic
surgery to achieve that look of perfection
that they idolize so much. How many of us can
truly afford to spend that type of money to
fit an ideal that may not fit our body types?
Promoting
exercise and healthy eating habits as a matter
of health and being in shape is
one thing; relying on fad diets, miracle drinks,
shakes and pills to achieve the "look
you've always wanted" (but may never realistically
achieve) is another. Being shapely does not
mean you're fat or overweight and doesn't require
spending countless hours in the gym. A few
curves never hurt anybody's figure. For some,
achieving miniscule proportions is worth it,
but being comfortable in the skin you're in
is priceless.
Though it may sound cliché,
what is beautiful is within. Don't let anyone
define
beauty for you. Case closed.
- Dittrich, L. "About-Face facts on
the MEDIA." About-Face web site. [Online:
http://www.about-face.org/r/facts/media.shtml]
- Hamburg,
P. (1998) "The media and
eating disorders: who is most vulnerable?" Public
Form: Culture, Media, and Eating Disorders,
Harvard Medical School.
- Dittrich, L. "About-Face
facts on BODY IMAGE." About Face web site.
[Online http://about-face.org/r/facts/bi.shtml]
- http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/facts/anorexianervosa.htm
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