Gum

Gum

  • Submitted By: bugg
  • Date Submitted: 12/02/2008 8:58 PM
  • Category: Psychology
  • Words: 290
  • Page: 2
  • Views: 377

The media seems to think the thinner the better. Women in the U.S suffer from eating disorders trying to get the “ideal body.” With such a significant emphasis placed on appearances in our culture, women of the United States are virtually obsessed with their bodies. Body image problems are proliferating, with approximately 80 percent of all U.S. women admitting to being dissatisfied with their figures. Through TV shows, commercials, magazines or any form of advertising, the media enforces a certain body type which women imitate. The so-called perfect body type causes many negative effects on women in the US. Women who focus on unrealistic body images tend to have lower self-esteem and are more likely to fall prey to eating disorders. The unhappiness and shame that many American women feel when looking at themselves in the mirror can be manifested in a number of harmful ways. While some women will never go beyond a healthy diet and exercise routine, others may fall victim to harmful craze dieting and supplements, binge eating, anorexia, or bulimia. In the book The Eating Disorder Sourcebook, Carolyn Costin states, “Since the culturally prescribe body weight is so unrealistically low, fear of it is so high, body dissatisfaction is so widespread, and mountains of evidence show that diets don’t work (approximately 98 percent of those who lose weight gain it back), it follows that some individuals will resort to extreme measures such as starving or purging to deal with their frustration over their figure or size, striving to obtain "just the right shape." "(69-70) Costin explains what drastic measures some people are willing take to obtain the ideal weight. The media presents society with unrealistic body types promoting people, especially women, to look like them.

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