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Media's Effect on Women's Self Image Essay

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Walking around this campus, you do not see many women taller than 5' 9 and weighing less than 115 pounds. It is almost impossible to see a woman of this stature unless you are turning the pages of a fashion magazine. Every time we turn around it's a possibility we'll see Tyra Banks, Giesele or another supermodel on a billboard, television commercial, or magazine cover. Many women, teenagers, and young girls are starving themselves, exercising excessively, or getting plastic surgery to achieve the look of these undernourished supermodels. In reality, out of one million women who attempt to be a model, only one will achieve supermodel status. These beautiful bodies and perfect facial features are relatively unattainable. By knowing …show more content…

They have fabricated ideals that are unattainable and unhealthy, and they lead us to believe that the only way to succeed is achieve the "perfect body." The average 5-foot 4-inch, 142 pound American woman's body is labeled unattractive in today's standards. This is much different than the average model who is 5-foot 9-inches, and 110 pounds. Society's standard of beauty is just short of starvation for most women. Susan Mackey, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist in Evanston, Illinois, says it best, "Maybe only 5 percent of the population is 6 feet tall and weighs 109 pounds, but that is the artificial image girls are trying to live up to." Media is making the definition of what beauty is or even what an acceptable body is; seem to become more unreachable each year. Even though there will always be ways to make oneself look better, society makes it harder by the day to be recognized as beautiful.

No matter what time period we are in, women feel they need to conform. They will measure up to what they believe others think is attractive and also what they perceive is satisfying and appealing. Woman are forced to believe that there is always room for improvement and their body is not fine the way it is. This keeps women in a constant state of confusion. According to the way women compare themselves to models, it is imperative that women be beautiful to be worthy. Men will love you if you are gorgeous. If you starve yourself you will be beautiful. By

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