Post 12 – Body Image

Throughout the course of many people lives they are confronted with an incredibly powerful desire to conform. In today’s judgmental society, it is considered a stigma to go against the typical beliefs of main-stream culture and to dismiss the pressures to be accepted. The media is one vehicle that acts as a driving force in the quest to conform. For instance, now that media is embracing the gay and lesbians, society comes to realization that the gay culture is no different from any other community other than their gender prefernce. This wide-spread method of communication that calls for the use of newspapers, magazines, film, and television is a key component in the new trend of sacrificing individuality in favor of general acceptance. Adolescents in today’s society, specifically females, are bombarded daily with unrealistic expectations set forth by the media, particularly issues concerning physical appearance. In today’s society, drastic weight loss commercials interrupt popular TV shows, and magazines showcase only the thinnest and most beautiful models. These desperate attempts by the media to sell products convey the harmful message that to be considered an acceptable member of society the average female especially those in their teens must look like the flawless models represented in magazines and television commercials. The significant feeling of inadequacy leads to self-criticism, and is the reason behind this trend of poor body image especially for the typical teenage girl. Because of this poor body image caused by social pressures, the public often turn to drastic measures in order to increase their perception of themselves in the eyes of others. The desire of females to achieve ‘perfection’ without a doubt exists, however, it unattainable for majority of Americans. Not being able to “pinch an inch” is definitely desired but let’s be real many working citizens don’t have time or money to hire a personal chief and trainer or make a quick plastic surgery appointment. As an athlete I have an athletic body and wouldn’t be able to reach the ideal Barbie image even if I maintained a very strict diet and work out plan daily. In desperate attempts to achieve a more positive sense of self many turn to the idea of extreme dieting, or have turned to cosmetic plastic surgery. Although this may seem incredibly severe and excessive, most females refer to them as necessary measures to appear more appealing and attractive to others. The fact that even older females want to maintain their adolescent body, be perceived as young and uphold their lively personality consequently leads to a lack of power held by women. Universally adults have power over children so if women work every day at staying young it only seems just that they don’t have the upper hand. If this is the case why does appearance play such a key role in control? This goes to show that conformity along with control are no longer innate qualities and has turned into a definition based on stereotypes and appearance. Everyone was born a certain way for a reason, if we all meet these standards it would just seem natural. If no one was born with any excess fat is would seem as natural as having 2 eyes or legs. Everyone is different and we need to start embracing these differences rather than finding a way to change them or elminate them all together.

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