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What’s Wrong With Just Being Me?
Today’s youth read magazines and watch TV every day, and in television shows they always see “beautiful” people. These people are beautiful, but what is beautiful? Some guys will say 36, 24, 36; but rarely will you hear a guy say he likes a voluptuous woman with a whole lot of curves. If you ask a guy who his favorite actress is, he is not going to say Queen Latifah or Kirstie Alley because neither is typically the ideal actress for a character for a modern role. In movies and television shows the female characters are normally “average” size. How is this description supposed to make a slightly overweight teenage girl feel? She is going to feel below average and starve herself only to become extremely unhealthy and be more appealing to boys her age because that is what she thinks they will like.
Body image is a state of mind. It is how you eat, think, and express yourself. Thanks to the media, more and more girls and boys are being checked into rehab not only for drugs but also for deadly eating disorders. If the media would include more positive news about a more diverse group of people of all shapes and sizes, both males and females would be able to feel better about themselves. If the diet empire would take a drastic measure to encourage healthy weight loss, then people might feel better about themselves even if they are a little overweight. It should encourage confidence, too, because being in a positive state of mind will lead to a healthier lifestyle. Beauty is subjective. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Beauty is not in the numbers. Beauty comes in all sizes, not just size 5.
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Today beauty is stereotyped to be rock hard abs and toned arms. The days when a girl the size of Marilyn Monroe was considered beautiful are long gone. In fact, the United States of America is considered one of the most obese countries in the world. The media wants everyone to look the same, and you constantly see commercials and ads for new home gyms and a new diet pill that will drop you four dress sizes in six weeks. Companies that sell these products are “trying” to reduce the number of overweight Americans, but they are doing so in an unhealthy and dangerous manner.
Experts agree that trying to achieve the “perfect” female body image as seen on TV and in magazines is leading an increasing number of teens to develop eating disorders, such as bulimia and anorexia nervosa. It is the same way for boys, too. They constantly want to be bigger and stronger, so they start taking steroids and diet pills to make things more “masculine.”
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