Growing up in today’s society, it is not uncommon to hear a women, some as young as eleven and twelve to comment about their weight, and whether they’re too fat or not and need to begin dieting, immediately. Some girls feel that it is socially unacceptable to have the slightest bit of their belly hanging over their jeans, or any ounce of fat on their bodies, because you may be considered fat or even possibly over weight.
As a young women in today’s world, it is not uncommon for us to admire and want to become the women that we see on television or in magazine adds. We see these women as beautiful and successful, and having it all. However, the one thing all these women have in common, is that they’re all walking skeletons. These magazines and television adds are promoting young women, such as myself, that to be beautiful and to have it all, is to literally become a human skeleton and to stop at no cost. When dieting and exercising isn’t enough, these young women will never give up, even if it means becoming addicted to diet pills or developing a severe eating disorder such as anorexia or bulimia along the way that can eventually become life threatening.
Just as baggy jeans or disco music were a passing fad, is that what eating disorders are? Or is it more than that? Will the goal of weighing absolutely nothing and being as skinny as possible be a passing phase, or is it something that may ultimately destroy our next generation of young women, both mentally and physically?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Hi Talia:
You have a a clear point of view, although it might be helpful from the top to state explicitly your agreement with Kilbourne.
Your second paragraph works fairly well, as you connect images of beauty with extreme and unhealthy thinnness. But what is missing, it seems to me, are specific references to specific images/models/celebrities that appear in the media (which could also be named, say, specific magazines and such). Can you offer some illustrations/examples to support your sensible assertion?
Finally, take another look at that last paragraph: do you really want to connect fashion or music "fads" with a dangerous eating disorder? Is that a fair and logical analogy?
I agree with almost all of your suggestions to improve my essay. It would make my writing a lot better if I did add in the names of celeberities from television or magazines. However, one thing that I disagree with is the last suggestion. Fashion and music fads come and go, whats popular and whats not. Eating disorders may also be a passing fad. Years down the road, it may be considered a thing of the past, and being a walking skeleton may also be a thing of the past. But, theres no way of predicting that.
Hi Talia:
I see what you're saying. But do note that the article and the studies referenced go back to the 80's--are women still facing the same pressure to be think decades later? What does that say? But your larger point may be this: that each generation may have its own image of beauty. It might be interesting to find images of women/celebrities from another time to see what standard they were trying to reach.
Post a Comment