Beauty Kills.

"Beauty Kills"

In the 1920s, the flapper look was in with the slender, sophisticated, flattened breasts. 1950s Marilyn Monroe was portrayed as the sex goddess because her body was voluptuous and curvy now it's the opposite media states she was FAT, society's famous 3 letter word. 1960s, we experienced the Twiggy era taken from the word Twig; Twiggy was 97 lbs 5'8" this was the launch of the anorexic look. In 1990s the supermodel for Calvin Klein known as Kate Moss is known for her extra meager figure with a blank gaze called the "waif look" became a fashion model trend. All these American Women of the past and today are mere examples of how a woman can never be too pretty or too thin, it just isn't possible to ever be enough. Our American Society has created these ideal images of females in American culture that are harmful and negative. All these images are displayed 24-7 everywhere on billboards on highways, actresses on T.V., advertisements, mainly magazines with many hot models to even lyrics in songs such as "she got a body like a coke bottle," all expressing the expected look.

Unfortunately our American Society is highly influenced majority by media and there advertisers nationwide and it actually defines our image of the ideal women. This ideal image currently is a fit, young, radiantly, healthy, skinny women. According to Naomi Wolf the author of The Beauty Myth: "Advertisers manipulate women into thinking their value is dependent on their physical appearance. They appeal to that basic human desire to be wanted, accepted, and sexually attractive" (492). Society as a whole expects all of these physical characteristics from every woman; while ignoring the fact that these women are paying a high price by taking the chance with many health risks. The health risks are the rising "epidemics of anorexia and bulimia" (486). These two "eating disorders are rising exponentially" (487). These two aren't the only result but how mentally they are affected by just looking at the images to where they feel guilt, depressed, shameful or even insecure about there physical appearance. As expressed on the news there was a short clip I overheard of how 75% of "normal" weight women presume they are too fat and that 50% of the American women are dieting. I was stoked to hear these facts because all I ever hear is how the United States has the biggest crisis with obesity when the bigger problem is the unhealthy underweight women.

"Dieting, exercising and taking diet pills are the way to the thinner, improved, more popular and sexy ideal," as society states you will live happier and healthier (487). If this is true then why did I have my best friend lie to me saying I already ate, or to know she is losing more than one pound a day and to be the only person that truly cares, to go out shopping and hear her ask repeatedly "does this make me look fatter" or "can you see my fat". When she does eat to puke it all out or at least once a day and think she is still too fat to look like her idol a Spanish singer and actor named Thalia. Having to experience this issue was terrible, I felt so useless watching my best friend go through this situation and not be able to do anything about it. I could only do so much for her until finally her body couldn't take it anymore. Luckily she only had to stay in a hospital for a couple of days on IV. There was a point that I honestly felt that I was going to lose her, I thank god I didn't. But everyday I see advertisements on commercials on diet pills and so forth and think how they manipulate women into thinking they are too fat so they will do whatever it takes to lose it, and believe me they are far from being happy.

Women are suffering inside and it's all due to all mainstream, "advertising it's a 130 billion dollar a year industry. The average American watches 30 hours of TV a week and spends 110 hours a year reading magazines. That adds up to exposure to 1500 ads daily" (492). There is the wealth of certain businesses that depend on the ideal image of thinness to survive. These companies just look out for themselves like the cigarette companies with consequences like cancer if you smoke, and yet they still sell them. The many exercise