Women’s magazines are filled with articles and advertisements stressing weight loss as the key to a perfect and happy life. This mainstream idea of beauty is achievable for a very small number of women.
Researchers generating a computer model of a woman with Barbie-doll proportions found that her back would be too weak to support the weight of her upper body, and she would have to walk on all fours to move around. These standards have made their way into every form of media in America’s culture. Pressure to be thin and beautiful is weighing down today’s girls and women. In 2003, Teen Magazine reported that 35 percent of girls ages six to twelve have been on at least one diet, and that 50 to 70 percent of normal weight girls believe they are overweight. Overall research indicated that 90 percent of women are dissatisfied with their appearances in some way. This is because of the way the news industry and the media are portraying women to be perfect.
Media activist Jean Kilbourne said, “Women are sold to the diet industry by the magazines we read and the television programs we watch, almost all of which makes us feel anxious about our weight.”
Photo source: clutch.mtv.com
Women’s bodies are everywhere in the media and on the news and are especially plastered all over advertisements. Popular film and television stars are becoming younger, thinner, and taller.
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