Unrealistic Body Image Research Paper

Looking in the mirror in the morning, Maddie can’t help but notice all of her flaws. She sees the wrinkles starting to form around her eyes, the fat collected all over her body, her thin lips, and blemished skin. She is disgusted every time she looks in the mirror because all she can see is what she doesn’t have that celebrities do. She can’t help but compare herself to the people that she can’t seem to avoid. Since the media sets unrealistic standards for women’s bodies, which cause negative effects in young women, the media needs to present realistic models.
Unrealistic body types are universally seen today, and have become unavoidable for women and young girls (Serdar). The average American girl will spend 180 minutes each day watching …show more content…
Most girls that want to lose weight or be thinner are already of normal weight for their age. A disturbed body image is one of the main diagnostics for eating disorders and the need to diet in young adult girls (Serdar). Up to 24 million people of all ages suffer from an eating disorder. 95% of these are between the ages of 12 and 25 (“Eating Disorders Statistics”). Anorexia is an eating disorder that involves a person refusing to eat the adequate amount of calories out of an irrational fear of becoming fat (Kam). People with anorexia may restrict the number of calories they eat or not eat at all. Many do this because they believe that they are fat. In reality they may be dangerously thin (“Body Image in the Media”). Bulimia is a condition when a person will grossly overeat and then purge the food by vomiting or taking laxatives to prevent gaining any weight (Kam). Both anorexia and bulimia can cause heart disease and kidney disease (“Body Image in the Media”). Right now anorexia is the third leading chronic illness for teenages and has a mortality rate that is twelve times higher than all other causes of death for females ages 15-24 (“Body Image in the Media”; “Eating Disorders Statistics”). 20% of people with anorexia will prematurely die due to complications related to their disorder such as suicide or heart problems (“Eating Disorders Statistics”).
Anorexia is caused by a fear of being fat. The media has put this pressure on females so much that they resort to not eating to try and achieve these ideals. This is causing girls to end up in the hospital, or even die before they reach twenty years old. People need to join in the effort to stop the media from putting so much pressure on girls, and to start promoting healthy bodies, and healthy