Enna+Tahir

Body Image and in the New Age

Beauty is a quality desired by most individuals in our commercialized society. The beauty industry is thriving, with aisles of beauty products available in most stores. Shaving creams, lip sticks, lotions and hair products are all examples of how vast this industry is. There are many aesthetic grooming women in this society are expected to do that men are not and that are completely unnatural. Examples include, shaving of ones legs, waxing and wearing make-up. Now the pressure is being set on the bodies of women, especially size and weight.

Over the past 15 years the sample size of a dress went down from a size 8-6 to a size 0-1. The average woman is a size 12-14 in the United States or 16 in UK sizes. (Shocking Body Image Statistics) A size zero is made for a woman who measures 32"-22"-32". The average U.S. woman is 5’4” and weighs 140 pounds whereas the average U.S. model is 5’11” and weighs 117 pounds. (Wellness - Body Image - Shocking Statistics) These media portrayals give an unrealistic image to women about what they should look like by showing these models in advertisements and runway shows. The average weight of models in these ads weigh 23% less than the average woman while 20 years ago the difference was only 8%, which in turns shows the change our societies standards for women and female beauty. (Shocking Body Image Statistics) After viewing images of female fashion models, seven out of ten women felt more depressed and angry than prior to viewing the images. (Knowing the Facts - Statistics) These under weight and above average height women are becoming the standard for beauty and normal women are being subjected into believing that becoming thinner will make them more beautiful. These effects are seen the greatest in younger women where eat disorders and bad self image are becoming a major issue. 30% of women chose an ideal body shape that is 20% underweight and an additional 44% chose an ideal body shape that is 10% underweight. (Wellness - Body Image - Shocking Statistics) These startling statistics further demonstrate the harsh realities these images are causing in the women of today. If these are the cases now, they are only bound to get worse as they become more prominent over time.

In a recent study, 27% of Ontario girls 12-18 years old were reported to be engaged in severely problematic food and weight behaviour. (Know the Facts - Statistics) These shocking statistics show that girls are beginning to embark upon behaviour which can effect their mental and physical health and a negative way in their adolescent years. These studies prove that media distorted images and expectations are effecting our local youth and can have drastic consequences, no high school girl should have to worry about her weight for aesthetic purposes. Eating disorders are now the third most common chronic illness in adolescent girls. (Know the Facts – Statistics) This problem is growing drastically and causing an alarming amount of pressure on the girls of today. These statistics show the local realities of this issue and that it exists in our community. More needs to be done to change these images girls have of themselves. Girls often resort to teasing others bigger than themselves or “uglier” than themselves to improve their own self image. These have resulted in other problems including cyber-bullying and depression. Thus, a self image problem begins to lead towards another cycle of problems. The new media portrayal of women is also beginning to affect girls younger than 13 years old. One in ten nine-year-olds have engaged in self induced vomiting to help them lose weight. (Know the Facts - Statistics) This is especially troublesome because children should be gaining weight around this time in their lives rather than losing it. Taking a reasonable amount of their nutrition out of their diet can begin to affect their brain function in school and can stunt physical growth.

Stake holders in this issue include females (and sometimes males) of all age, size and socio-economic background, the beauty industry, the fashion industry, and the diet industry. To begin, as females take in all these media portrayals of other women they might feel as if they do not meet the expectations set out for them by society. Seeking acceptance may lead to as previously discussed eating disorders and unhealthy self image. Low self esteem and lack of confidence is also a result of taking in all these misconceptions over beauty and body types. People will begin to lose sight of internal and natural physical beauty but will rather begin to focus on the faults of others according to society as we often see in teasing and painful remarks. However, it could also lead to a a society that values the under weight and subsequently unhealthy and bastardize the average healthy person. Eating disorders of both bingeing and purging or starving varieties can result through depression or insecurity brought on by pressures. With even younger people being effected as shown by statistics, this is becoming a crucial issue in many communities and is effecting the mental health of our youth. The fear of being fat is so overwhelming that young girls have indicated in surveys that they are more afraid of becoming fat than they are of cancer, nuclear war or losing their parents. (Wellness - Body Image - Shocking Statistics)

The diet industry makes approximately 40 billion dollars annually and is one of the fastest growing industries around the world. (Wellness - Body Image - Shocking Statistics) Companies such as Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers offer women support, plans and food to help them lose unwanted weight. Granted, these programs are beneficial to the over weight or unhealthily obese. However, when women of average weights take on their services to meet a certain societal image there is a problem. It could be said that it is exploitation of the insecurity in females today. However, if societal view points do change, this industry would be the first to suffer. If women do not feel like they need to go on fad diets to reduce their weight (often only to gain it back), it would reduce demand drastically and thus, distress the industry. Several long-term follow-up studies have shown that the success rate of diets, over time, is dismal at best. In fact, it is estimated that approximately 95% of diets simply do not work over the long term (Know the Facts – Statistics). Similarly, the beauty industry that sells such products as cellulite creams and other “fat” hiding products will also suffer. If more women realized that it is normal to have some socially claimed “flaws” the beauty industry would definitely suffer as women will feel less need to work on their appeal. The average woman will spend over 2.5 years of her life just grooming, hair dressing or going to the salon to be beautiful or appealing. (Body Image Statistics in this Eye Opening Video)

Overall, these facts and statistics show that body image and eating disorders are becoming a large scale issue even locally in Canada. I believe that this problem can be resolved if more healthy women and average women are exposed to the media. This problem is slowly becoming a pandemic among girls and even young boys. Our society instead of just acknowledging that there is a problem should create further restrictions to display normal people are beautiful and not glorify that unattainable.

Works Cited

"Beauty and Body Image in the Media." Media Awareness Network | Réseau éducation médias. 05 Feb. 2009 .

"Body Image Statistics in this Eye Opening Video." Teen Beauty Tips...Helping You Find Your True Beauty! 05 Feb. 2009 .

"Eating Disorders and Body Image | Here to Help, A BC Information Resource for Individuals and Families Managing Mental Health or Substance Use Problems." Home | Here to Help, A BC Information Resource for Individuals and Families Managing Mental Health or Substance Use Problems. 05 Feb. 2009 .

"Know the Facts - Statistics." National Eating Disorder Information Centre. 05 Feb. 2009 .

"Shocking Body Image Statistics." Sexy Plus Size Models - Beautiful Plus Size Women at Any Size. 05 Feb. 2009 .

"U.S. Misses Size Chart." Fashion for women -- fashion designers, latest fashion trends, fashion tips. 05 Feb. 2009 .

"Wellness - Body Image - Shocking Statistics." University of Colorado at Boulder. 05 Feb. 2009 .