The average US woman is 5'4'' and 140 lbs.
What does that look like? A whole lotta anorexia and bulimia.
Studies show that eating disorders are now appearing in girls (and some boys) earlier and earlier (around ages 9 and 10 instead of the previous ripe old age of 12). What could possibly be the cause of such a tragic pandemic?
That was a sarcastic question (in case you didn't notice) because the answer should be obvious to anyone who flips open a magazine, watches TV, or even glances by a billboard. Our society glorifies skinniness. Even actresses who are unconventional-looking in the face can make it as heroines in the industry as long as they are skinny (e.g. Jennifer Anniston, SJP, Sandra Oh, etc). But if you're not skinny, you'll rarely be a Hollywood star. You'll always be the supporting actress, the fat friend, the comic relief.
Our cultural values are undeniable and most young girls are too perceptive to ignore it. I once had a very precocious five year-old tell me, "Mommy is skinny like Elastigirl and Daddy is fat. Skinny is good." She had just watched the Incredibles which featured the ever-stretchable mother figure, which apparently reminded her of her own. I worried for that chubby toddler since she was heavy-set like her father and played always with ideally proporitioned dolls and Disney heroines. She's already aware of the differences. I smell a 9-year-old anorexic.
Even I, an enlightened, mature woman cannot help but feel a little discouraged everytime I open a catalogue or magazine to be greeted by page after page of women who look dramatically taller and leaner than myself. Multiply that by the soft impressionable clay of youth and it's no wonder you have statistics like the following:
40% of 1st, 2nd or 3rd grade girls want to be thinner.
80% of 10 year olds are worried in case they become fat.
70% of 6th grade girls surveyed said that their concern about their weight, shape and diet started when they were aged 9-11.
So let's revisit the concept of the model model.
Perhaps it isn't healthy as a society to idealize a form that is far different than what most woman can ever achieve. Maybe we should have "real" looking women be our heroines and models. Maybe ads should look more like the Dove campaign for beauty (pictured above) and not Calvin Klein soft-porn. Why should American women be represented in the media in exaggerated proportions that they clearly do not possess in real life? Why should "models" not be actual and true models?
Maybe if they were, we wouldn't have a bumper-crop of otherwise healthy girls loathing their bodies and sacrificing themselves on the altar of futility and unattainable worth.
6 comments:
I'm not railing on the skinny. My loved ones are all skinny.
I'm railing on the propogation of unrealistic standards that are causing whole generations of young girls to feel utterly inadequate before they even begin their lives.
darn. and i just ate a plateful of 6 layer nachos. (layer seven, the healthy salsa part got messed up. apparently sugar plum tomatoes makes sweet, pink salsa... ewwww)
i'm pretty sure generations of little girls feel inadequate without any encouragement from media. it's not like the ugly duckling got ostrasized because of his nasty personality. it's a part of being a girl. this is why i hang out with guys. ;)
besides, who cares about millions of little girls. we should cast all our attention to the much bigger problem: overweight pets. our furry friends are severely obese! diet petfood is all the rage. it's become a national crisis!
we can't send aid to starving countries. we need to research ways to extended the bloated lives of Spot and Snowball.
I am so with you on this! 5'10" and 110 pounds?! And you know what? I would say it's probably even ten times worse if you're Asian. I don't think I had that many body image issues until I got to Asia and faced the indignity of being told I had fat arms and having to buy size L everywhere I went--that is, if the place was so compassionate enough to even HAVE different sizes--lots of places had a one size fit all policy, and that one size was a size 1.
Oh! and you know what I hate the MOST? Those lying bitches who say, "it's just good genes" or "i have good metabolism." BS! No one is so special that they can bypass the ravages of age and slowing metabolism. And it gives me no small amount of comfort know that, while Lara Flynn Boyle may be skinny, she will never know the many delicious wonders of food.
oops, I forgot to sign that, hee.
Hi Christina!
-Tammy
LOL. Tammy you crack me up.
Yeah, I never felt worse than when I went shopping in Shanghai. I heard so many snide comments about "big Americans" and the effects of drinking milk.
Take comfort in the knowledge that, in 25 years, you'll still be speedwalking the sidewalks and shopping malls while the skinny minnies will be shuffling around in wheelchairs due to their osteoporific afflictions.
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