Friday, October 20, 2006

The Skinny on Body Image.

On my way home from my mother’s house tonight, I stopped at Walgreen’s to pick up a few things. As I approached the checkout line, I couldn’t help but glue my eyes to the headlines coating the tabloids. “Celebrity Diets Gone Wrong,” “Skin and Bones,” “She’s wasting away!” We’ve all seen them, undoubtedly. There is no way to avoid it -- Unless, of course, you are blind. Oh, but then you would hear about it on the news, radio, or the gossip from the chatty women at the hair salon.

I know it has been an issue for quite some time now. That woman from the Carpenters died from complications from bulimia, I believe. Yes, there is a paragraph here (http://www.something-fishy.org/memorial/memorial.php) that verifies that Karen Carpenter was one of the first publicized deaths relating to eating disorders. It’s a shame, it really is. She had so much going for her, as do all of these celebrities we see plastered on magazine covers. Forget celebrities, it’s a worldwide issue that is becoming increasingly common by the day, unfortunately.

If they have so much going for them and everything is so “perfect,” why would they do something like that to themselves? Out of all seriousness, can you really blame them? I feel that the message sent out these days is that thinness is everything. Forget being smart, forget being happy, forget being healthy. If you want to be liked, you must look like a runway model and be two pounds short of dying. Yes, because we all want to look like walking skeletons and barely pass for clothes hangers.

Take a look at the most-watched television shows, soap operas, even reality shows. Take a look at movies, magazines, and advertisements. The majority of the females are slim and slender and the males are fit and muscular. According to this (http://www.wonderquest.com/size-women-us.htm) website, that isn’t the average build for either sex. The average American woman stands about 5’3” and weighs 152 pounds while the average American male stands 5’9” and weighs 180.

While “Googling” for the average weight of males and females, I found a section of this (http://www.snac.ucla.edu/pages/Body_Image/Body_Image.htm) website which discusses the media’s role in developing poor body image. I found it creative that they converted the measurements of a Barbie and a GI Joe action figure to a human and explained how grotesquely deformed one would look if they were life-sized; however, I wish they had expanded on the media’s role on this issue.

This (http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1590/is_7_55/ai_53461444) brief article, on the other hand, covers celebrities, the mass media, and eating disorders. I’m definitely not the only one seeing the connection here. The media has an incredible impact on teenagers, especially as far as body image goes.

So allow me to go back to those most-watched television shows, soap operas, reality shows, movies, magazines (and catalogs, for that matter), and advertisements. What do all of these have in common? Practically flawless people, am I right? One hardly ever sees overweight people in television shows or movies, and if there are, they are often the butt of jokes pertaining to his or her weight or looks. It makes me sick. The average person does not look like that! But if we are anything but, we may not be considered “good enough.” Screw that. But try explaining this to a teenager struggling for acceptance.

I speak so strongly on this issue because I have been there, done that. A few years ago, I had been diagnosed with an eating disorder and hospitalized after dropping to a mere eighty-six pounds. It’s a mental thing and I couldn’t see what I was doing to myself until it was too late. I would rather not put my whole experience out there. I am just thankful that I have recovered and still have the rest of my life to live. But because of that experience, I can honestly say that I know firsthand how serious of an issue this is becoming.

I had been seeing a psychiatrist for the duration of my treatment. I had the worst time trying to identify the root of my path to destruction. I had no luck and decided to discontinue my sessions. As I have had time to search back, I have come to the conclusion that it had been caused by several minor instances and low self-esteem. I was always comparing myself to the girls on television, the girls in movies, the celebrities that graced the covers of magazines (I couldn’t help but ignore the fact that they had been air-brushed). They were perfect and I wanted to be perfect.

I could write book on this subject and how I feel about it. Unfortunately, it would do no good. The media is too powerful to let one paper brick bring it down. But to wrap this up, I wanted to throw in this (http://www.caringonline.com/eatdis/people.htm) link. It’s a website with an extensive list of celebrities that have had some degree of an eating disorder. Crazy… Not only is the media causing harm to teenagers, top-name celebrities are feeling the effects, as well.

Just an added note: If you would like to gain more knowledge on anorexia or other forms of disordered eating, you should check out http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org. (The awareness week is coming up this February)

Posted by Erin at 12:57:00 AM