Is There Too Much Pressure on Girls to Have Prefect bodies?

Negative body image issues generally start from ages 7 to 12 due to media ads, and social expectations.  These types of ads include scantily dressed women, tall, long legged girls, and models. Those types of ads cause girls to strive towards that kind of perceived perfection.  There lies the problem and the struggle.  Girls often will develop eating disorders, and substance dependency to reach that idealistic body.  In the New York Times article "Body and Image", this article talks about how teenage girls are quick to point out conformity, which is when people look, and dress the same way.  Teenage girls are doing this in a misguided manner.









In 2002 there was a study done at the University of Minnesota by Dr. Neumark-Sztainer. Her and her colleagues did a study on junior high, and high school students.  This study showed that among 4,746 junior high and high school student, 57 percent of the girls had fasted, gone on diets, or smoked more cigarettes to lose weight.  All these girls blindly striving to obtain a sleek, svelte, sexy body as seen in the media.

So here's my opinion on the whole subject.  Sure those women in the ads look great, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they are fit, strong, or the ideal body image.  Body image should include confidence, healthy choices, and an active lifestyle.  Even some of those women that they portray as perfect, may have body image issues as well, because body image goes beyond skin deep.  Just because those models on the billboards, or the magazines look like they are perfect, they really aren't because most of the them starve themselves to look that way, and that is defiantly not a healthy living style.

Body image has been portray throughout the decades in a menagerie of sizes and shapes.  Throughout the years it has continually been portrayed more slender and the years go by, as apposed to a more curvaceous physique.

                       

   






Most recently the company Dove has made great strides to help women realize a true body image.  They implemented the Dove Real Beauty Campaign stressing the fact that healthy is part of being beautiful.

So ladies the struggle is real.  Just remember to love your body, make healthy choices, and respect yourself.  Never think that you aren't good enough, because everyone is beautiful in their own way, and in their own size .

Work Cited

CLHS, Alexis R. "Is There Too Much Pressure on Girls to Have the Perfect Body." The Learning Network. New York Times, 27 02 2015. Web. 31 Mar. 2015. <http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/03/is-there-too-much-pressure-on-girls-to-have-perfect-bodies/>.

Curvy, Kate. The Ideal Body. 2015. Photograph. For a Good BodyWeb. 31 Mar 2015. <http://blog.curvykate.com/the-ideal-body-changes-through-the-decades/>.

Body image, eating disorders, and obesity: An integrative guide for assessment and treatment.
Thompson, J. Kevin (Ed)
Washington, DC, US: American Psychological Association. (2001). vii 505 pp. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/10502-000