"Body image problems are serious and deadly," says Amy Swanson (11) and “70% of adult women and 40% of men report that they have felt pressure from television and magazine to have the perfect body” (APPG 10). For generations, we as people are expected to have a specific body image, especially for females in the media. They illustrate certain standards for children growing up. Being exposed to several advertisements, they get the idea that women and girls should look attractive and look a certain way. The media publishes unattainable standard of beauty: clear skin, beautiful face, and a thin body (like a stick). Even though most people know the image displayed on their screen or magazine has been digitally edited, our minds cannot stop comparing
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In fact, it is a problem that begins in teenage years, where people are "more vulnerable class in society" (Miss Representation). Transitioning to a teenage life, 10 to 17 years-old, girls already picture an ideal body in their minds and fear that they will gain weight. “Nearly 30 per cent of 11-year-old girls expressed dissatisfaction with their body weight, and one in ten was on a diet. By age 15, 46 per cent of girls were unhappy with their weight, and a quarter of them were dieting” (Bawdon 33). Instead of having fun and making the best years of their lives, they start dieting and worry about the judgmental comments their peers will make. Those negative thoughts and the dissatisfaction of their body can push dieting too far and lead the girls, also women, into having eating disorders like anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Anorexia nervosa is defined on Oxford Dictionaries as an “disorder characterized by an obsessive desire to lose weight by refusing to eat” and defined bulimia nervosa as a “disorder characterized by a distorted body image and an obsessive desire to lose weight in which bouts of extreme overeating are followed by fasting or self-induced committing or purging”. As for eating disorders, Amy Swanson’s View Point 1: Negative Body Image Is a Critical Problem for Women, she believes “the hatred of the body easily leads to hatred of the self. An eating disorder” (14) can lead to other different emotional and …show more content…
Should we discourage size-zero models? In order to make a point that you can be a size 14 model and still be beautiful no matter what size you are. More importantly, it may prevent future death of thin fashion models like in 2006, Luisel Ramos “who had fasted for several days,” and Ana Carolina Reston “who died from an infection related to anorexia” even though Alexandra Shulman had brought the subject of “jutting bones and no breasts or hips” to which it was ignored (Cochrane 80). However, if we discourage size-zero models we would discriminate against those who are size-zero and those who are born with size-zero bodies. “Discriminating against thin people is no different than discriminating against fat ones” and it is “something that should not be encouraged” argued Alexandra Shulman who is an editor of a fashion magazine and is on the British Fashion Council (82 & 86). It is also not the fashion industry job to advocate for good health, instead, its job is to stimulate fantasies and to sell clothes (Shulman 82). In a like manner, if only wider models or models who have healthier bodies were displayed, people would criticize the not only the fashion industry but the media, for promoting unhealthy standards. Instead, we should
In fact, it is a problem that begins in teenage years, where people are "more vulnerable class in society" (Miss Representation). Transitioning to a teenage life, 10 to 17 years-old, girls already picture an ideal body in their minds and fear that they will gain weight. “Nearly 30 per cent of 11-year-old girls expressed dissatisfaction with their body weight, and one in ten was on a diet. By age 15, 46 per cent of girls were unhappy with their weight, and a quarter of them were dieting” (Bawdon 33). Instead of having fun and making the best years of their lives, they start dieting and worry about the judgmental comments their peers will make. Those negative thoughts and the dissatisfaction of their body can push dieting too far and lead the girls, also women, into having eating disorders like anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Anorexia nervosa is defined on Oxford Dictionaries as an “disorder characterized by an obsessive desire to lose weight by refusing to eat” and defined bulimia nervosa as a “disorder characterized by a distorted body image and an obsessive desire to lose weight in which bouts of extreme overeating are followed by fasting or self-induced committing or purging”. As for eating disorders, Amy Swanson’s View Point 1: Negative Body Image Is a Critical Problem for Women, she believes “the hatred of the body easily leads to hatred of the self. An eating disorder” (14) can lead to other different emotional and …show more content…
Should we discourage size-zero models? In order to make a point that you can be a size 14 model and still be beautiful no matter what size you are. More importantly, it may prevent future death of thin fashion models like in 2006, Luisel Ramos “who had fasted for several days,” and Ana Carolina Reston “who died from an infection related to anorexia” even though Alexandra Shulman had brought the subject of “jutting bones and no breasts or hips” to which it was ignored (Cochrane 80). However, if we discourage size-zero models we would discriminate against those who are size-zero and those who are born with size-zero bodies. “Discriminating against thin people is no different than discriminating against fat ones” and it is “something that should not be encouraged” argued Alexandra Shulman who is an editor of a fashion magazine and is on the British Fashion Council (82 & 86). It is also not the fashion industry job to advocate for good health, instead, its job is to stimulate fantasies and to sell clothes (Shulman 82). In a like manner, if only wider models or models who have healthier bodies were displayed, people would criticize the not only the fashion industry but the media, for promoting unhealthy standards. Instead, we should