Body-Image

Taken from a "Thinspiration" blog

I guess you could call me social media obsessed. From Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr (you would think my Klout score would be higher than it really is), I often find I get lost within these websites and sucked into the virtual world. One day while I was perusing on Tumblr (you can check out mine hereeee if ya want) I came across one girl’s blog that was more than just some pretty pictures. For me, my Tumblr encompasses my personality, and the pictures I post are a reflection of idea, words, and images I take a particular liking to. So while I was on her page, with hateful words and dark images splashed all over the page, I began to think how tortured of a soul she must be. Her page led me to dozens of other pages just like it. Those with girls posting exactly what they ate for the entire day although with (airbrushed) images of stick thin models in swimsuits and lingerie, those with daily photos along with the current weight or “CW” as they call it, those with painful phrases like “Why aren’t I pretty?” and “All these pictures of pretty and skinny girls make me want to go starve until I’m thin and attractive.” They call them "Thinspiration" blogs, I would say they are more depressing than inspirational.

Another "Thinspiration" blog photo

This is another issue with women’s magazines; they portray those in their magazines in such an unrealistic light, that it creates an ideal that isn’t even attainable among real women. From my own personal experience as well as seeing blogs like the one mentioned above, the inability to look like and the images they see in the magazines creates a hate for one’s body. The pressure to be thin and to look and dress like the models in magazines is overwhelming. In the United States alone, the diet industry is currently worth 40 to 100 billion dollars.  Never been the best at math nor do I quite understand how the economy works, but I am pretty sure that’s a hell of a lot of people buying diet products. In addition, an American research group reporting that one out of every four college aged women uses unhealthy methods to control or to lose weight. These methods range from excessive exercise, vomiting, laxatives, fasting, and skipping meals. Once again, not so good at math, but that translates to millions and millions of young women around the United States.  

Articles like the ones on the cover above
 are being read by young girls.

You would think that the magazines with cover headlines like “50 Best Sex Moves” and “Tighten you Tush” would only be read by a more mature audience, but research shows that these magazines are trickling down to girls much younger than the intended target audience. I came across a unique USA Today article that discusses the effects of fashion industry ideals on body image. Sarah Murnen, a professor of psychology at Kenyon College, performed a study in which she found that girls as young as first grade believe that culture and society is telling them they need to look and be like celebrities. Well, I am soooo glad these girls are growing up with such esteemed role models like Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton. My question is there even a way to protect girls against these unattainable ideals. As of now, it doesn’t seem like there is light at the end of the tunnel. It is a vicious and dangerous cycle that our society is a part of, and it is difficult to not get sucked in.