My Friend Who Struggles With Low Self Esteem Through Email ( Ij )

Once upon a time, women were celebrated for their curves. Weight was a symbol of wealth and fertility in a woman. During this time, women were subjugated to being a housewife and nothing more. As time and society progressed, a woman’s prison became her body and no longer her home. Women had the freedom to vote, work, play, but could no longer be fat. This new beauty standard of thinness affects women in many ways. In “Add Cake, Subtract Self Esteem” written by Caroline Knapp, she describes her own personal experience on how this impossible standard affects women’s eating which leads to eating disorders and an unhealthy relationship with food. In “The Beauty Myth” written by Naomi Wolf, she describes the mental effects on women from a

First, psychological consequences of being overweight or obese eating disorders such as binge eating, bulimia and anorexia. In “Bare Bones” (310), Emily Wierenga tells a powerful story of a 12-year-old girl named Carolyn who suffers from anorexia based on her fear of becoming fat. Wierenga’s purpose is to inform the psychological aspects that obesity evokes on one’s body. Anorexia may begin with a desire to diet to lose a few pounds, it also can be a fear of being overweight, but it occurs when the person becomes overly involved in the diet and limits food more than is healthy. In addition, being overweight also causes depression. Many times, people who suffer from obesity often feel they have a low quality of life. Obesity can cause poor self-image, low self-esteem, and social isolation, all known contributors to depression. People experiencing depression overeat or make poor food choices and avoid exercising. Depressed people experience decreased levels of the serotonin have a tendency toward obesity they tend to self-medicate by overeating and restore their normal serotonin levels. Also, obesity also causes lowered self-esteem and body dissatisfaction, most obese individuals feel ‘ugly’ or unattractive. This greatly affects their confidence to interact with people. Psychological issues play significant roles in both the development and consequences of

A question that many ask is, “If thin people are already thin enough, then why do they still diet?” In many cases, the answer to this question can be from an eating disorder. In a study conducted by the American Psychological Association, eating disorder can affect all genders and can become very dangerous if not treated. Quoted in the article, “Many people with eating disorders suffer from low self-esteem, feelings of helplessness, and intense dissatisfaction with the way they look.” This can correlate with Backstrom’s idea of body project, how the body must be shaped and maintained vigilantly.

The article by Aviva Braun, “5 Ways to Prevent Body Image Issues” is straightforward to the point of what the author is trying to say on how to prevent body image issues. This article is more about to teach mothers to teach young girls to be comfortable and happy about themselves inside and out. These tips are good to teach these young girls that they should not put themselves down, because they aren’t skinny enough just because society portrays ultra-thin models on advertisements. The author has had practice as a psychotherapist specializing in eating and body image problems. Braun lets her readers in on how she has witnessed teens and young adult women with eating and body image problems that stem from growing up. Braun uses statistics in

Rae Smith with the Love Yourself Challenge on tumbler.com relays a strong message when she says, “There is nothing wrong with your body, but there is a lot wrong with the messages which try to convince you otherwise.” When it comes to having a positive body image in today’s society it can often be a struggle for anyone. 89% of American women are unhappy with their current weight and body, 84% would like to lose weight. (Schultz, 2015) Speaking for myself, I have struggled with weight and body image since I was about 11. I have done so many harmful things to myself as a teen and into my adulthood trying to achieve the body I thought I could be happy with but it never really occurred to me the damage I was doing until I had a daughter. My

Therefore, the commendation of such look and shape commercializes unhealthy body image and procreates eating disorders. Unfortunately, at present the commercialism of a perfect body is encountered by almost everyone on everyday basis. The public is bombarded daily with images of glamorously thin women in commercials, on billboards, in movies in magazines and etc?According to Melanie Katzman, a consultant psychologist from New York, the media has actively defined the thin ideal as success and treats the body as a commodity. (Rhona MacDonald, 2001) It is evident that the persistent advocating of the media and the society produced a constant pursuit of thinness, which became a new religion. A study conducted by Harvard researchers has revealed the effect of media and magazines on adolescent girls in high schools. The children were exposed to fashion magazines and television commercials, and a while after were given self-rating surveys. The study found that sixty-nine percent of the girls said that magazine pictures

It is those unrealistic images that we see in the media that contribute to women’s desire to be skinny and perfectly toned, so, like the conditioned robots we are, we: perform, please, and perfect – to eventually develop a self-destructive sense of self. Altered images and the generalizations of those images in the media are, without doubt, becoming great contributors to lowering self-esteem in people

Millions of women, day in day out, are bombarded with the media’s notion of the “ideal” female body. These impractical images are depicted within women’s magazines worldwide, sending out the message to women that they are not thin or pretty enough. Magazine companies spend billions of pounds yearly on diet and exercise advertisements to include in their magazines, having their readers buy into body dissatisfaction through unrealistic imagery of women, accompanied by dieting and exercise information. Many years ago, Marilyn Monroe, being a size 14, was considered to have the “ideal” body shape and size. However, today’s standard is much smaller and as our society’s beauty ideal continues to shrink in size, body image within women continues to deteriorate. Magazines interpret and associate happiness with being thin; consequently having some women feel if they are not thin, then they are not happy.

There are numerous forms of eating disorders, such as anorexia and bulimia. In this case it deals with overeating, under eating, or provoking oneself to vomit consumed food. People with anorexia limit the amount of food they eat, even if they are harmfully thin to begin with. Other problems associated with the media’s negative influence on body image are depression and anxiety. Teenagers spend most of their day worrying about their appearance causing anxiety and depression when they can’t measure up to popular media’s standards.The root for these serious issues is the negative influence media has on society, with distorted body images directed to only one specific body type. However it is possible to restore one’s self esteem, but may need professional assistance, like a therapist to help with deep rooted insecurities. At the end of the day we all can’t have long hair, clear skin, and be a size zero. In a way it’s a miracle not all teenagers are diagnosed with eating disorders, due to puberty changes and constant pressures from society. Because of developing technology, it is hard to disconnect from social media and personal

“To be happy and successful, you must be thin,” is a message women are given at a very young age (Society and Eating Disorders). In fact, eating disorders are still continuously growing because of the value society places on being thin. There are many influences in society that pressures females to strive for the “ideal” figure. According to Sheldon’s research on, “Pressure to be Perfect: Influences on College Students’ Body Esteem,” the ideal figure of an average female portrayed in the media is 5’11” and 120 pounds. In reality, the average American woman weighs 140 pounds at 5’4”. The societal pressures come from television shows, diet commercials, social media, peers, magazines and models. However, most females do not take into account of the beauty photo-shop and airbrushing. This ongoing issue is to always be a concern because of the increase in eating disorders.

90% of highschool girls go on diets daily, when only 10% of those girls turn out to be considered overweight (Davidson). Overweight is a term used for scientists to determine a healthy weight for a certain height, not what girls think they are considered as (Obesity). With more advertising and false model images, teen girls are forming negative body images for themselves because they want an unrealistic look. Models or manikins in stores show the wanna-be image for girls and cause them to obsess over a specific look they think they need to be in order to not be considered “fat.” Girls don’t want to be considered fat because of the social groups that are formed. They don’t want to look bad in front of anybody because they care what others think

“70% of 6-12 year olds already have the mindset that they need to be thinner.” (Just Say Yes.org)Many factors influence individual’s perception of his or her own appearance. Media has greatly increased the “ideal image of beauty.” Barbie, models, and actors give people false hope that they will look just like them, and if they look different then they aren’t beautiful. Social media and peer pressures influence the way teens see themselves. To fix this problem people need to learn to self-love, respect themselves, and understand that people on TV were given the job because of the way they look to appeal to the audience.

If you viewed magazines from years, you would see great variety in shapes and sizes when it came to women. If you were to just cut on the television today, the women being shown will mostly be tall and skinny. The media along with society have begun to develop what is the ideal body type and what is not. Media can have a great influence on anyone; however, adolescents are targeted in this case, being pressured that thin and slender is the ideal size to be. According to National Center for Biotechnology Information (Whitaker), “Eating disorders are complex illnesses that affect adolescents with increasing frequency. They rank as the third most common chronic illness in adolescent females.” These are not the only effects that come along with

Being human comes with a list of inevitable mechanisms; developing fevers, throwing up, and sweating are all natural processes human experience. One nature of the human body is the tendency to gain weight. Due to this, many of us pursue the act of dieting in order to lose the weight gained. Society pushes for losing weight as “traditionally, good health and a leaner body are the motivational factors emphasized in public health campaigns and information materials” (Sabinsky) but there are many motivators that push us to lose weight. Many individuals experience low self esteem, especially in lieu of weight, and it’s interesting to understand how weight is perceived differently across genders. Delving into a woman’s self esteem issues and focusing

When my family moved away from the place I grew up I began to have a major problem with my weight; I turned to food to comfort me. I somehow felt secure while eating and because of that psychological reassurance I got from the food, I was soon over weight. I knew I had to do something but that urgency would die when I would be introduced to a new flavor of Brewster’s ice cream or a limited time only supreme large fries that I saw advertised on the television or in a magazine. My self esteem and body-image suffered a great amount during those years of constant struggle. As I looked at pictures of celebrities, athletes, average people, friends, my sister and then myself, I noticed something, all of them were thin except me. After this and