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Female Body Image

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In 2007, a shocking ad was displayed starring model, Isabelle Caro. Caro's anorexic frame was splayed out, nude, for the world to see what she looked like. Despite her wish to recover from her ongoing battle with anorexia - Caro lost her battle at the age of 28. Shortly before her death, Caro published a book entitled The Little Girl Who Didn't Want to Get Fat. Caro is not the only sufferer of eating disorders as a result of body dissatisfaction - millions worldwide suffer as well. Stepping onto a scale and finding the results unsatisfying is a daily occurrence for the average woman. With the rise of the digital age comes more media coverage, both good and bad. The typical “ideal body” morphing into the danger it is today. Body dissatisfaction …show more content…

Teenagers spend as much as seven hours observing media daily according to researchers (Spur, Berry and Walker); the need to reach the ideal body image becomes overwhelming due to emphasis on looks in the media and time spent viewing it. The National Eating Disorder Association did a study that concluded 80% of women were unsatisfied with their appearance and girls as young as nine had begun to practice dieting (Chittom and Finley). Through the use of the language of morality, the media has lured people into buying and using dieting products. Due to the staggering different proportions between the average woman and average model – an average woman measures 140 pounds at 5”4 while a model weighs 117 pounds at 5”11 – the ideal body image becomes, not only exceedingly difficult to achieve but extremely dangerous (Chittom and Finley). According to Body Mass Index calculations, 18.5 and below is dangerous for the human body to endure and means it will not function at an optimal rate – the average model calculates to a BMI of 16.3. However, media has been making an effort to correct the problem of body …show more content…

Body dissatisfaction needs to be made a public health concern for the safety of women, and men, around the world. If the media would expose people to a more diverse range of body types and images, then people would feel more comfortable in their own skin. Making the issue of eating disorders and body dissatisfaction public can prevent the deaths of thousands who suffer from these disorders. It is a long, ongoing process but media can show that “thin” is not the only body type that showcases

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