Becky Marton
Women’s Studies
12-1-08
Body Image, What!
Young girls are more afraid of becoming fat than they are of nuclear war, cancer, or losing their parents. If Barbie was a real woman, she’d have to walk on all fours due to her proportions. One out of 4 college aged women has an eating disorder. A survey of formally fat people revealed they would rather be blind or lose a limb than be fat again. Body image is how a person see’s their selves in a mirror or how a person pictures themselves in their mind. It also deals with what a person thinks of his or her own appearance, including their memories, assumptions or generalizations. So many Americans suffer from body image issues. Over 8 million people in the USA are anorexic, bulimic or have eating disorders.
Over the years since the early 1900’s and way before the body image, especially for women has been something of a roller coaster ride. Even as far back as the early 300 B.C.’s you can see images of Egyptian women scantily clad with nothing but sensual bodies, while the men were strong and muscular, well built to both work and take care of their growing families.
Our children are overwhelmed from a very young age of being a weight conscious world. Little girls are given skinny mini Barbie dolls while boys are given muscular GI Joes. Children are bombarded with commercials of models, showing them a constant image to try to be while being shown also that a good place to eat is a fast food restaurant. It is clearly confusing and the government does not try to make it any easier. Obesity is getting higher and higher while the rate of suicides as well as diseases such as anorexia, bulimia just seems to be getting further and further out of hand. Yet no one seems to know what to do about our ever growing problems.
Currently anorexia and bulimia are damaging the teenage population. 1 in every 20 is affected. Anorexia nervosa is a psychiatric disorder that describes an eating disorder, characterized by low body weight and body image distortion, with an obsessive fear of gaining weight. Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by recurrent binge eating, followed an action known as purging. Anorexia and bulimia are a lot of times caused from having a negative or poor body image of oneself. Anorexia and bulimia are serious and damaging disorders.
Anorexia is an eating disorder and a psychological disorder as well. At the start of this disorder a person starts dieting because they think they are fat. As this continues the concern to have total control over their body comes first to the dieting and weight loss. And then this cycle continues until starvation. This becomes an obsession to a person and they feel the need to look a certain way. 95% of those affected by anorexia are female. It is estimated that 1 in every 100 girls has this disorder. The cause to this disorder is unclear. Some research suggests that it is the media; others suggest it’s caused by a dysfunction in a family or possibly a malfunction in a certain gene. Most anorexics don’t like to get help because they are in denial. The first step to curing anorexia is correcting the patient’s malnutrition. If a patient gains 1-3 pounds per week they will usually come out healthy. Psychological and medical intervention is always available if a person doesn’t want to be admitted to a hospital as well. Anorexia has a 6% mortality rate. Early diagnosis and treatment are crucial to ending this disorder. Relapse is rare but it does occur. If so, many patients need lifetime medication, help, and support.
Like anorexia, bulimia is also a psychological eating disorder. Bulimia is characterized by binge-eating, followed by purging. Binge eating is when a person eats a larger portion than they normally would. It is usually a response to stress, depression, or self esteem issues. Overeating and purging become an obsession. Purging is how people try to gain control and relieve stress. It is hard to spot a bulimic, they usually binge-eat and purge in private. 9 out of 10 people with bulimia are women. There is no single cause for bulimia, but some factors could be culture, family, life changes, stressful events, psychology, or biology. The media portrays flawless looking people and so that’s most people’s standard. Bulimia runs in families. Rape or being teased can lead to becoming bulimic. Having low self esteem is common in most bulimic people. Also, genes, hormones, and chemicals in the brain can be a factor in bulimia as well. Signs of bulimia are hard to spot. A person might use diet pills, go to the bathroom all the time after meals, or exercise excessively to lose weight. Also, there might be noticeable purging signs such as swollen cheeks, teeth that look clear or broken blood vessels in the eyes. Someone with bulimia often thinks she or he is fat, even if this is not true. The person might hate his or her body. Or worry a lot about gaining weight. Bulimia can cause someone to not seem like him or herself. The person might be moody or sad. Someone with bulimia might not want to go out with friends. Therapy is the most important treatment plan when curing bulimia. Other cures could be medication or getting a nutritionist.
Eating disorders are serious medical problems. Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa disorders are all types of eating disorders. Eating disorders frequently develop during adolescence or early adulthood, but can occur during childhood or later in adulthood. Females are more likely than males to develop an eating disorder. Eating disorders are more than just a problem with food. Food is used to feel in control of other feelings that may seem overwhelming.
Eating disorders include serious and extreme attitudes, behaviors, and emotions surrounding weight and eating issues. They have serious emotional and physical consequences. An eating disorder can affect anyone regardless of sex, gender identity, race, class, or sexual orientation. The most common element in all eating disorders is low self-esteem. A person does not need to have all of the signs or symptoms to have a particular eating disorder and to need help and a person can have a combination of eating disorders at one time.
Body image affects how a person feels about themselves. This is an important factor when defining one’s own self esteem. Women have trouble with self esteem issues because the world portrays having a perfect body and if a woman thinks she’s fat, ugly or too tall then it’s difficult to have good self esteem or a positive body image. A 1997 poll of 4000 readers of Psychology Today reported 56% of women and 43% of men surveyed were dissatisfied with their appearance. Also, studies showed that two out of three women have mixed feelings or become depressed when they see themselves nude in a full-length mirror. Self esteem can affect a person’s body image in either a positive or negative way.
Body image can be thought of in two different categories: positive and negative. Negative body image is a distorted perception of one’s body shape. There can be one or many parts a person may not like. People with a negative body image often compare themselves to others and think only other people are attractive and that they are a failure. A negative body image means a person is self conscious, ashamed and awkward in their own skin. People with negative body image have a greater likelihood of developing an eating disorder and are more likely to suffer from feelings of depression, isolation, low self-esteem, and obsessions with weight loss. A positive body image is a clear-true understanding of one’s body and a person see’s various parts of their body as they really are. They celebrate and appreciate their natural body shape and they understand that a person`s physical appearance says very little about their character and value as a person. People with a positive body image are accepting and appreciate their unique shape. And lastly, they feel comfortable and confident in their skin.
Images of female bodies are everywhere. Women—and their body parts—sell everything from food to cars. Popular film and television actresses are becoming younger, taller and thinner. Some have even been known to faint on the set from lack of food. Women’s magazines are full of articles urging that if they can just lose those last twenty pounds, they’ll have it all—the perfect marriage, loving children, great sex, and a rewarding career. Standards are always being imposed on women. By presenting an ideal difficult to achieve and maintain the cosmetic and diet product industries are assured of growth and profits. The stakes are huge. On the one hand, women who are insecure about their bodies are more likely to buy beauty products, new clothes, and diet aids. It is estimated that the diet industry alone is worth $40 to $100 billion a year selling temporary weight loss. On the other hand, research indicates that exposure to images of thin, young, air-brushed female bodies is linked to depression, loss of self-esteem and the development of unhealthy eating habits in women and girls. The media affects women and their body image because it forces a misconception of what a healthy women should look like.
In “Klaus Barbie, and other dolls I’d like to see” it mainly talked about Barbie dolls and if a person didn’t look like one then they didn’t fit in. “If you didn’t look like a Barbie, companies would discontinue you”. This makes it hard for anyone to compete. This message hasn’t changed throughout the years. These dolls give young children their first lessons in what society considers valuable and beautiful. This leads society to believe that eating disorders are ok, or if a person is not 100 then they are fat, or that having low self-esteem is ok because of the way Barbie is designed. Portraying Barbie’s to be young role models is not fit for society.
“The Unreal World” correlates with body image. “After all the happily-ever-after buildup, every bachelor has dumped his chosen girl shortly after their series wrapped productions. That’s the thing about fairy tales…they’re not real. Our world is portrayed to be something it’s not, just like how the media portrays what all women should look like, but really don’t. This is wrong and creates problems with body image and in turn women have low self-esteem.
Body image is a part of self-esteem, body image is the picture you have of your body as well as the way you envision others see you. As women, we all want to look and feel our best. This is not always easy, considering the busy life today's woman leads and the many responsibilities she may have. It can be tough to find time for exercising and eating right, not to mention controlling stress! Sometimes women can feel pressured to look and feel a certain way. We live in a culture that puts much emphasis on physical appearance. Developing and nurturing a positive body image and a healthy mental attitude is crucial to our happiness and wellness, as we move through the different stages of our lives.
