Women And Societies Views On Weight

In the American culture, women are starving, and gorging themselves, their children, and their loved ones. Some women hate and want to get rid of everything that makes them female; a pear shaped body and curves (Keresey). Many eating disorder specialists agree that chronic dieting is a direct consequence of the social pressure on American females to achieve a nearly impossible thinness. Women are taught from childhood to judge the worth of their bodies looking at an emaciated standard of beauty, which the media has been blamed for upholding and possibly even creating (Schneider). To explore the broader context of this controversial issue, this paper draws upon several aspects on how common body dissatisfaction in adolescent females is, and also reflects upon research that presents several important ideas regarding the connection between the mass media and body dissatisfaction.

"Body image is the subjective sense people have of their own appearance and their body"(Body). "Body dissatisfaction is defined as a subject's satisfaction with their bodies" (Lewis). People tend to have a distorted sense of their own body (Body). Perceptions about body images are shaped from a variety of experiences and begin to develop in early childhood. It has been shown that children learn to favor thin body shapes by the time they enter school. "By the age of 10, most girls are afraid of becoming fat (Body)." Overall body size and image concerns have been reported to be more prevalent among females than males. Gender related differences in acceptable body size are shaped from a variety of societal definitions of appealing shapes for males and females. Girls are taught to focus on the external aspects of themselves. "Learning to do their hair, polish their nails and paint their faces, is virtually a rite of passage into womanhood in the American culture"(Body). "Boy's, on the other hand are taught to focus on their athletic abilities rather than there looks" (Body). Many males' report being unhappy with some aspect of their body, but concern about body weight appears to be a far more common and more important aspect of body dissatisfaction by females than males. Survey data indicates that about one-half to three-quarters of females who are normal in weight consider themselves to be overweight (Lewis).

Researchers have observed that while a boy learns to view his body as a means for achieving power and control in the world, while a girl learns that a main function of her body is to attract others (Lask). Many advertisements lead girls to believe that they must be found thin to be attractive. As girls grow older and their body changes, they become increasingly dissatisfied with their bodies and consistently desire to be thinner. The appearances of models in the media may send a dangerous message about eating disorders, but fashion, and fitness magazines, and some television shows with thin characters also play a part in influencing irregular eating patterns of young women (DeGroat). Most surveys state that symptoms of women's eating disorders are stronger for magazine reading than from television viewing. However women that watch television shows with thin women in them, shows a woman's drive for thinness (DeGroat). Watching shows with heavy women shows that women are concerned with their body dissatisfaction (DeGroat). Either way you look at it, media influences both. Kristen Harrison, an assistant professor of communication studies has many things to say about media influence on eating disorders. She says,"...Instead, the overall emphasis on feminine thinness exemplified by multiple media depictions of slender models and actresses should be considered for its possible influence on disordered eating" (DeGroat).

Food plays a major role in a woman's life. For females, food is depicted as a reward or a way of socializing. But women are also taught that they are supposed to be thin and fit, yet this is difficult to accomplish if females indulge in a large range of food. Being diet-obsessive, the mass media provides a sharp contrast to the pleasure of food, and what it is supposed to bring to females. Thus there are clear and quite strict limits on the degree to which American females may attempt to satisfy their impulses toward food (Body). "Market data enterprises Inc. estimated the size of the weight loss industry at

$32, 680 in 1994"(Dittrich). "The clientele of this industry are about eighty five percent woman, most of whom regain the weight lost with in two years" (Dittrich). A sample of popular women's magazines contained approximately ten times as many dieting advertisements and articles as a similar sample of men's magazines. "This ratio exactly matches the ratio of females to males with eating disorders" (Harrison).

Societal standards of beauty change dramatically over time. Today the body ideal is to be thin. However, this has not always been the case. Only a century ago, the ideal female body was the opposite of what it is today. Cellulite, which use to be called "dimpled flesh", was considered beautiful. "Fatness was viewed as a sign of energy and health" (Body). The body ideal in the 1920's was similar to that of today, which is thin. However, this look was achieved through the use of clothing styles and fashion. Then in the 1950's more voluptuous figures, such as Marilyn Monroe set the new standard for the ideal woman. However, this look didn't last for long with the arrival of Twiggy in the 1960's. Twiggy's look was one of a pre-pubescent boy. In the 1980's the look was still thin, but with more of an emphasis on a toned, fit look. "The body ideal for woman of today's times is one of very thin large breasted combination" (Body). Unfortunately, for many people the ideal thin body is nearly impossible to achieve (Body). This makes women feel dissatisfied with their appearance. Hence, the beginning of a negative body image.

In a famous study comparing Pageant contestants, and Playboy centerfold models, Garfinkel, Schwartz, and Thompson, found many interesting statistics. Their study reported a significant decrease in the body measurements and weights of Playboy centerfolds and Miss America Pageant contestants. Pageant contestants' weight decreased significantly over the time of the study, and more often than not, pageant winners weighed considerably less than the other contestants. Also found in their study, sixty nine percent of the playboy centerfolds and sixty percent of the pageant contestants weighed at least fifteen percent less than expected based on height. This is important because being at least fifteen percent below one's expected body weight is symptomatic of anorexia