So I was so disappointed last week, when I saw that young girls were posting You-Tube videos of themselves and asking the world to weigh in on whether they were pretty or not. You can check out some of the videos and read the viewers comments here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8D9mqqkgH-0
The criticism and negative comments they receive can have a devastating impact on a young girl’s self-esteem. Cases of anorexia and bulimia have been found in girls as young as 5. The media bombards us with images of stick-thin models and airbrushed actresses that put even more pressure of girls to achieve the “ideal image”. Consider these startling statistics from a recent survey of girls ages 12-18, by Sugar magazine:
· 78% said they worry about their weight
· 1:5 have been criticized by a family member for “being too big”
· 51% said their parents have hurt their feelings talking about their size
Today is International Women's Day! So to celebrate, my question to you this week is, “What do you think can be done to ensure young girls are raised with a healthy body image?” Ladies, I would love to hear how and if you were affected by this as young girls. Guys, I would like to know how you think men contribute to what women think the ideal body image is. Answers are due no later than Wednesday, March 14th. P.S. This weekend Daylight Savings Time begins – so don’t forget to change your clocks!
I would like to see the media emphasize more body-types: tall, thin, and scrawny is getting old. It would also be nice to emphasize the power of anything besides brain-dead beauty and youth. What celebrities are not ashamed of their age? Who, on TV is proud of being intelligent or strong?
ReplyDeleteThere are a variety of reasons why people have the shapes they do, its really not just health as seems to be the implication: i.e. if you are wide, you are being lazy/ greedy and if you are thin, you are graceful/ good. Bone structure holds both height and weight to a certain constraint. With that alone, a person with a short, stout build trying to be tall and thin (thinking that is the definition of heath and beauty) will be starving themselves towards an unobtainable goal.
I target the media for change, because they define peoples mindsets and mental images of beauty. Parents telling their children that they are too big sounds like the result of an unfair comparison: Be it comparing a Photoshopped supermodel to a "real/working" woman, or comparing an 'surgically enhanced' woman lying about her age to a impressionable young girl, wondering why she doesn't look like the girls on Disney channel.
I believe the media is slowly starting to change their ways. There are plus size models out there and they are just as beautiful if not more beautiful than anyone else.
ReplyDeleteThere is a show called Mike & Molly that my family enjoys watching that is about a "large" couple and the woman who plays Molly has gotten much praise for her acting.
Graphic designers are even trying to help. There are those posters showing our anorexic models today compared to our healthy pin up girls we used to have, showing how much this "thin" image has ruined our definition of beauty.
I hate when my friends complain about their relatives mentioning their weight. It disgusts me how your own flesh and blood can judge you like that. I have been very fortunate with a fast metabolism my whole life and it's finally slowing down so I have not experienced much of this drama.
However, men have influenced the way I judge my looks. Typically I assume they want lots and lots of curves, but I learned that is not the case. Some men want curves, some don't. You really just need to learn to love yourself, no matter how you look, just like Stephanie says.
I have always been stick thin. People swiftly jump to conclude how much easier of a life I experience, but these people also don't consider how much time I've spent in and out of the hospital my whole life. I also have a very fast metabolism, so all the food I eat gets processed rapidly and I often burn through all my energy quickly. It's harder to function with little energy and nutrition throughout the day, but mind over matter has deemed to be such a powerful concept in my life; I couldn't live without it. I can only thank my grandfather for teaching it to me at such a young age. Thank you grandpa.
ReplyDeleteAs a fashion photographer, this topic also sets heavily upon my shoulders. There are several different versions of right and wrong photographing/photoshopping fashion models. I, personally, don't like to alter my models weight (liquify) in photoshop, so I look very hard when choosing my models. I like to choose thin, but healthy models as much as I can with my fashion photography. I respect these women, because I know it is not easy at all to maintain a very thin, HEALTHY weight. I, personally, know how easy it can become to go down the very slippery slope of not eating, yet I am aware how easy it can to gain weight. While I believe anorexia and bulimia are not healthy, not attractive, and not necessary, I believe obesity shouldn't go unnoticed either.
According to 14news.com, Indiana has just weighed in as the 15th fattest state with an obesity rate at slightly under 30%. This is disappointing! It seems so strange to talk about two extremes at the same time, but we are way too overweight. All of us in this classroom should have some sort of pride with the location we are in. I have been born and raised here in Indiana and a part of me wants to represent this state no matter how much I dislike our cornfield stereotype; a part of me also wants to move far away. I predict a lot of negative comments toward what I'm going to say next, but It's hard for me to understand why plus sized models are being praised. It's not because I don't think big can be beautiful, because it can and is at certain times. It's not because I think everyone should be a skeleton, because that is sad and tragic. It's because I know how hard a lot of these models work to stay fit and thin. I could be completely wrong, but I don't understand how we as a state (let alone a country) can change our unhealthy habits if it's ok to be obese. Why isn't that being taken into consideration if we are going to butcher the media for being too small?
Confidence is the most attractive thing I have found about anyone. Outside of the business, It makes no difference what size you are as long as you love yourself. You are beautiful no matter who you are. We are human and we are all imperfect, which in my opinion forges a new, heightened form of perfection. Being a skeleton should not be idolized in our fashion media, but we shouldn't reward ourselves for being overweight either. I have thought about putting a disclaimer in my photography about fashion as well. Fashion to me is a fun game; it's not real. Skin can be, but normally isn't as perfect as it shows and more importantly NO ONE walks around with the poses they strike. Like the people who conclude my life is amazing from my weight, no one tends to think twice about the second half of the story.
We can always strive to be better.
As a kid, I didn't care what I looked like, who I was friends with or even what clothes I wore. As I became a teenager, all of my friend were skinny with perfectly straight hair, while I was the chubby one with the stupid curly hair. I went through a phase where I obsessed over everything I did: what I ate, what I wore and what I did. I even stopped eating for awhile, thinking I could lose weight and be pretty like my friend. I thought I was ugly because no one, not even my family, told me otherwise. It wasn't until high school that someone actually told me I was beautiful. Since then, I've kept my hair curly and I've embraced the way I look. I don't care what others think, as long as I'm happy with myself.
ReplyDeleteI think more "real women" need to be role models for young girls. By that, I mean women who have curves, who aren't just sticks. By having people to look up to with varying body types, young girls would have a better outlook of themselves.
--Rebekah Cage
When I was in high school I was so thin I looked ill. I was a gymnast and dancer. With injuries over the years, and being allergic to the best medications for those injuries I was forced to take steroids both orally and through injection. With each dose I gained 10-15 pounds that I was never able to take off. I have struggled with my weight as an adult now for years and have been able to lose some weight here and some weight there, but then something happens and I'm right back on the steroids again. I am not trying to lose weight now because I am unhappy with who I am, but for my knees. I am about to have my 3rd surgery on my left knee in 2 years and this weight is not helping. When I was younger and thin I was not near as happy personally as I am now. My thought is if you don't like me because I'm fat, that's your problem, not mine. But hey, if any of you have a sure fire way to drop pounds I'd love to hear it, and so would my knees.
ReplyDeleteI do think the media puts to much pressure on young girls to look a certain way. But then there are also parents that put the added pressure on their daughters to be cute and little. Girls need to be aware of the health risks for being overweight but not belittled for being overweight. We are all different, some have higher metabolisms than others, some are more active, some have a hereditary disposition to being overweight. I come from a large family, and when I say large, I DON'T MEAN NUMBERS!!!
This problem is derived from the media. They do continuously portray women as these super slim and super fit. However The media companies are in it to make money. If you want to help bring this trend to an end, stop buying thier magazines and watching thier shows. I'm not defending the media industry (they are alot like drug dealers) but it is the rule of supply and demand. People keep demanding it some one will supply it.
ReplyDeleteBeing Healthy isn't easy these days, but we all try to eat right and be healthy the best we can. Ensuing young girls what is right and wrong body type won't change how someone feels. The power of words is scary.
ReplyDeletePeople could call you beautiful all day, but all it takes is one person to call you ugly and thats all you think about. I feel you can help them be healthy but you can't teach anyone to love themselves.
Watching those Youtube videos made me think, did they really think it would make them feel better? well no matter what your going to get good and bad comments. Reading some of the comments showed me how evil people can be.
I been dealing with weight issues most of my life, losing and gaining back. My project is over obesity, after learning more I want to be more healthy. I found if you think about losing weight to much, you will just gain more. I going to focus more on what I am eating and making healthy food choose. If I lose weight great, if I don't I don't.
I do want to add I did enjoy reading the comments this week, and I feel everyone had great points to add.
^ Jessica Smith. Sorry I forgot to add my name to my post.
ReplyDelete“What do you think can be done to ensure young girls are raised with a healthy body image?”
ReplyDeleteWell, it definitly helps to tell them that they are beautiful as is and to let them know that they cannot compare themselves to others.
There are two teen girls at my church that i mentor. Although one of them may need a diet adjustment, they are both gorgeous girls. I tell them that they have to learn about their own shape, how to love it, and how to dress it.
If you play off of what someone is, they can find their own beauty. It's like me hating that I am so pale, but once I learned about colors and what would work with my skin tone, it helped me to dress for that, and I think I do a good freaking job!
"Ladies, I would love to hear how and if you were affected by this as young girls."
Yes, I was really affected by the "standards" of society. Once, when I was a little girl in school, a boy in my grade told me I was fat, which I was not! I never forgot it and have always kept that moment in the back of my mind as a "in case" thing. My whole life I have stopped to ask myself if maybe I am overweight, even just a little...?
I am always trying to lose weight by eating less or avoiding certain foods. I hate diets... and sometimes I will be all like "I would rather die fat and happy" like I should be punished from good food. That is sooo DUMB!
Yes, I was affected. Of course, like you, I grew up and have been able to find my own beauty and the kind of guy that finds me cute (which is not everyone)... I love me. I am busty, pale, and look better with short hair. I can't be at 120 pounds unless I hurt my body, my norm/comfort zone is 130-140 approx and i'm ok with that. I am pretty good about staying there so that's good. I have given birth to two children and I look good (I think so anyways).
I can wear cold colors and cool neutrals, I can't wear red or yellow (not really) and I am good with that.
You gotta take what you can and be grateful for what God gave you cuz I swear it's a blessing. You CANNOT expect perfection from humans, God doesn't.
“What do you think can be done to ensure young girls are raised with a healthy body image?”
ReplyDeleteI think media is the source of all evil...but can lead into good as well (if it wants to). America's Next Top Model Cycle 10 did a pretty good job at giving some girls a good role model. Whitney Thompson won that Cycle as the 1st "plus size" model. She was wonderful and is still going around giving talks to girls about loving themselves and their bodies. Whitney embraces her body type (although i just see her as being big boned, which is still something some girls get made fun of and it is something that cannot be changed) and said that the reason why she went into ANTM was because she wanted to change the fashion industry. I wish more girls embraced what they have and thought like her, as well as the people putting on "the show" would choose different sized girls.
"Ladies, I would love to hear how and if you were affected by this as young girls."
As i went through middle school and early high school i wasnt much overweight so i wasnt made fun of that, it was more the color of my skin which is a whole different subject. Going into my junior year i had to have some medication that i guess made me eat a lot and so i gained the weight. Ever since i have struggled with my weight and with people and my own family having to say something about it all the time. I got to the point where i didnt care about what people said about my weight because i know how awesome (lol), caring, and lovable i am...and even if i try for that to be my mindset it can be very difficult sometimes. Just a few weeks ago a friend of my fathers asked if i was pregnant and i replied no, im just fat (kinda so he would just shut up and go away), to what he answered so why dont you go on a diet? and i said because im comfortable where i am and food is super yum! and i just smiled really big!! and even though i brushed him off in the moment it did hurt my feelings because i get asked all the time. Even though i love myself im trying to eat healthier now and shed some weight, i guess im just tired of being asked if im pregnant and not being able to find cute enough clothes that i feel comfortable in...
This is a really hard subject because we are constantly shown pictures on thin women. I've been thin my whole life and I was made fun of it for years while in middle school so it goes both ways. Girls need to be taught confidence more than anything.
ReplyDeleteI was also really thin as a young girl and teenager, so I really can't say that I was negatively affected by body image. That being said, my daughter,who is now 21, had a very hard time growing up as a heavier girl. Peers can be the ruination of an otherwise healthy self esteem. She was constantly made aware of her weight until she finally began to believe that it was "who" she was. The "fat" girl. I pissed me off on so many levels. The outright hatefulness and disrespect shown to bigger girls is atrocious.
ReplyDeleteI believe in letting young girls know that no matter what people say, it really isn't about what's on the outside, or just the inside, it's about you as a whole person. Learn to love and accept yourself and you you will began to believe that! Stay strong young women!
Denise Halcomb
I think advertisements can go a different direction concerning the image they put forth depicting the way young women should look. Girls get so obsessed with images of models who are stick thin and most likely they are very unhealthy. I've watched documentaries about the fashion industry and the conditions models are forced to work in. It's disgusting. In the documentary models complained that they would be on a casting call and someone would slap their thigh and say they are too big...how is a 5'10'' woman who barely weighs 100 pounds "too big??" That industry has struggled for a long time to represent real women. In high school I struggled with my weight a little bit as well as my self image. I've never actually been what is medically considered to be "overweight" but I'm pretty short and it's difficult to maintain a steady weight. I remember a friend of mine in high school had a book called "Every body is perfect." I think this is an issue every female, at some point or another, has dealt with. I took me a long time to get into a habit of eating right and exercising regularly. Now that I finally know (and feel) that I am healthy, I get criticized for being thin. There doesn't seem to be a happy middle ground...it's either too big or too little. I recently ran into an old friend and he literally told me to eat a cheeseburger...But I eat healthy and regularly as well as exercise...so who is anyone else to judge my weight? Some people are naturally small and some people are a little larger. When being compared to models on runways and magazine covers, I don't think people take into consideration that a good number of these women actually suffer from major eating disorders. I think females that are still in middle and high school should be encouraged to be HEALTHY, whatever size that may be. I also think it's important to remember that everyone at that age goes through awkward stages and everyone is struggling to fit in. The mean (and nice) things that people say in those years should help make you stronger and it's hard to realize that at that age. I know that personally, the less I let those situations affect me, the more confidence I gained as I got older and appreciated myself for who I am.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the media is largely responsible for the exaggerated ideas of beauty we hold as a society. Magazines and advertisements alone are so enhanced by the magic that is Photoshop. So we are surrounded by edited images of unrealistic "beauty" that we perceive this as the standard and our youth forms a warped sense that if they do not look like these CG women then they must be ugly. So they push themselves into unhealthy lifestyles in an attempt to attain the unattainable.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was young I was a dancer and soccer player, thin enough that my friends called me "Plank" yet my not so sweet father would tell me I would be as big as a house one day. I would see the women in my seventeen magazines and wish i could be beautiful like them. My mom would tell me they were just airbrushed and Photoshopped, but I'm a bit stubborn. About 7th grade I asked if I could have a copy of Photoshop so I could make myself beautiful like them. My uncle procured a not so legal copy and I taught myself. Today I consider myself nearly a Photoshop expert and I know the advanced process that these images go through and the amount of money someone makes to create them. Here is a link to one of my favorite Dove videos showing the process, it's short but effective.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U
I believe that if we start with the media and help not only the young girls but also the adults that parent these young women so that they may further drive home the message of what is healthy and that everyone is beautiful.
i saw this last quarter i believe...it made me sick to my stomach and it hurt my feelings that people would do this much change to an image...there was nothing wrong with this girl in the 1st picture, and after the effects it is literally a completely different person!! it is sooooo sad!
DeleteI honestly believe more self confidence/self esteem programs could be implemented in the public school setting at an earlier age. At my schools, we did not have programs such as these, and I feel that I and many other girls would've benefited from them, rather than hearing peers dictate "what a girl should be/act/look like." Organizations such as Girls Inc. are doing a great job at selecting confident, successful women to speak with younger girls about not obsessing so much over their outward appearance, but conditioning themselves in a positive way as a person. They really emphasize teaching young girls to love who they are as individuals, which I think is grand, especially in earlier years when you're trying to figure out who you are.
ReplyDeleteI also suggest that there is more education to young females about how much deceiving actually happens in the media we take in everyday, and also to just simply embrace how you naturally look. Some photos of models undergo so much photoshopping that they don't even look like the original. Some women just want to be society's definition of "beauty" so bad that they go through harmful surgeries to alter what they look like, and are still not happy even after their surgeries. On a smaller scale, young girls like the one in the video Stephanie posted are caking makeup onto their faces to make themselves look more like what the media portrays in glamorous commercials.
If we can instill a sense of self confidence in the young girls of our next generation, perhaps we can all be more accepting of what we all look like and appreciate everyone's body types. Educating them early on is key, and hopefully we can have a future without the media and our peers only seeming to favor tall, slim, "perfect looking" women.
The only thing I can think of that would help is to raise self esteem of young females. The media, sadly, is what controls how we look and think of ourselves. Until they change or we stop listening to them not a lot will change.
ReplyDeleteOne of the major things I'm seeing more daily with our women is that they are lacking major self confidence. They are always looking to TV or a magazine to tell them what is beautiful rather than looking inside themselves. Maybe if some self confidence activities where taught up in school or in the household we wouldn't have these issues and let the media run our lives and perceptions.
ReplyDeleteAs a man, I feel that there is no "ideal" body type. God created women of different sizes for a reason. Once women realize that they all can't be stick figures and necessarily look like what's always publicized or in the press then they would be more happy within themselves. Us as men have a huge role to play as well as what we perceive to be pretty or sexy.
I think that the fashion industry focuses way too much on ideal figure they should really have other models of other body types. I feel like they are targeting one group instead of everybody. The photos of models are heavily altered in Photoshop and unrealistic so they are creating a illusion of beauty that is not their. So by these images these girls feel pressure by the media to have an ideal figure.
ReplyDeleteBeauty is in the eye of the beholder, right. The media concentrates more on the skinny variety of women. When I open magazines all I see is the enhanced 'amazons' of the fashion world. All women should be considered beautiful no matter what body type they have. Many girls need to be more self confident about who they are as a person.
ReplyDeleteMy sister had baby fat when she was in elementary and middle school and she was made fun of for it. Many kids called her Roseanne and Ricki Lake and she would come home crying. I was made fun because I was really skinny as a kid since my curves didn't come in yet.
The media should gravitate away from the tall and skinny, it tends to get old. The beauty in the minds of our youth is skewed.
Our views as Americans about boy shape are distorted. Not everyone is super skinny or should it really matter. We've gone from a vikingistic body image of large and in charge to emaciation as being considered "hot". Really we should emphasis that you should take care of yourself however what is really important is what you are as a person; personify inner beauty.
ReplyDeleteThere a lot of things we can do such as have normal size woman in the magazines, in commercials and on ads. Have more shows and spokes people (woman) promoting self love and teaching young girls to love the way they look. Parents can be more loving and give more compliments to there daughters, because it starts at home. If parents instill in their children that no matter what people may say about you or what the media portrays as "beautiful" that what they see in the mirror everyday is beautiful. I personally did not have body image issues or problems growing up mainly because my mother as well as the rest of my family always told me how beautiful and pretty I was and to always love myself for who I am, and to not try and be like anyone else. They always told me God made me the way I am for a reason and that he makes no mistakes. So no matter what people may have said to me or say about me I know that I am beautiful and no body can ever tell me differently. i would love to be a spokes person for young girls struggling with body image issues because the media has a disturbing perception on what beauty is.
ReplyDeleteMy comment is simple, sex sells. I’m not defending retail industry but it’s the truth. Stop supporting them by buying into the smoke and mirrors that they use in advertisements. I also don’t mean to change the subject but it’s the same way for men. While I don’t have stats to back this up, just look at the recent Old Spice commercial campaign. What kind of message does it say to young boys? I think it goes something like this. “If you don’t use Old Spice and aren’t ripped like this guy, you’re a girly boy.”
ReplyDelete