Longing Beauty
By Jess Molina
Body image is
an important concept in many adolescent and young adult minds. To have
a positive body image is to know that you are beautiful. To be beautiful
is to reach the standards of beauty in society. However, society is constantly
changing those standards as time goes by. Many young men and women strive
to reach the positive, even if it means their health, money, and mind.
They have the media, such as magazines to thank for these wonderful standards.
Cosmopolitan
is the queen of women’s magazines. Her royal court also consists of Glamour,
Red Book, Vogue, and other smaller magazines. These magazines demonstrate
these beauty standards. Naomi Wolf researched on body image and found a
survey on this topic by none other than Glamour. Seventy-five percent of
women ages 18-35 thought they were fat. Ironically enough, only 25% were
medically overweight. What is sadder is that 45% of the underweight females
claim they were too fat. These magazines are setting up the ideal women
standards: skinny, 5’7” or taller, straight long hair, size 2 jeans at
the maximum, and must be able to fit in a kids’ t-shirt. It starts when
they are young. Women’s Body Image (www.wellesley.edu/Health/BodyImage)
helped demonstrates the young influence of magazines. Those days when girls
strive to be something they weren’t, were probably the most crucial days
in body imaging. They succumbed into the pressure of looking how everyone
else wants them to look. Such teeny bopper magazines sell to many young
girls the idea of beauty. Teen Magazine is the princess of that royal court.
In every young woman, or man’s mind, there is this longing to be desired.
To be desired, you must be attractive. To be attractive, you have to look
like that girl on page seventy-one in the latest Teen Magazine (Women’s
Body Image).
Body Image evolves
from one look to another. According to The Peel Heritage Complex (www.region.peel.on.ca/health/commhlth/bodyimg/media.htm)
we began in the 1890’s with a beautiful “plump body, pale complexion, representing
wealth, an abundance of food and a refined indoor life style.” That would
be about 5’8” and 132 lbs. Now, a model is no shorter than 5’7” and weighs
no more than 115 lbs. Many people need to be reminded that most pictures
of the models are airbrushed, possibly to the extent that it does not look
like them anymore.
What does it
take to get this look? Well, there are two very effect diets. One is Anorexia
Nervosa, and the other is Bulimia Nervosa. Anyone who deprives themselves
of food is bound to lose weight. Why do such girls give into giving up
such a bodily pleasure as food? David Garner and Paul Garfinkel, authors
of Handbook of Psychotherapy for Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia, proceed
to say “that underneath this self-assertive façade they experience
themselves as acting only in response to demands coming from others, and
not doing anything because they want to.” Not having food messes up the
body, and although these people turn it down, it turns out, says Garner
and Garfinkel, that their mind, they are frantically preoccupied with food
and eating. That is torture (Garner 10).
It is unfortunate
to see girls as a product of the media. Even worse, it is a shame that
magazines, that is paper with words and pictures, can dominate a young
person’s life when it comes to body image. A way to relieve this “disease”
is to understand that beauty is skin deep and no one is perfect. We all
have flaws. There is, also, no standard to beauty.
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