Beauty And Thinness example essay topic

Why would a frightening percent of American women gladly trade five years off their lives for 10 pounds off their bodies -- or prefer to be perceived as thin rather than as kind or intelligent? In our society, the thin message is relentless, and is rapidly spreading among women of all ages. The American standard of physical perfection promotes both eating disorders and an obsession with thinness among women, and consequences of this obsession can often be tragic. Women need to devise a way to empower themselves against a society obsessed with beauty and thinness.

In order to combat the Cult of Thinness, society must remove the emphasis placed on the ideal figure. It is no wonder that American women are obsessed with thinness. From a very young age, it is emphasized to women how important it is to be pretty -- and to be pretty by society's standards means being thin. This message is blatantly seen everywhere. Women's magazines, with their glossy pages of cosmetic advertisements and beauty advice columns, hold up an especially devious mirror. These magazines that claim to offer help to women, in fact do them an injustice by presenting a standard nearly impossible to attain.

Computer-enhanced photography employs techniques such as airbrushing blemishes and slenderizing the bodies of models. This adds to the creation of an ideal model, that women strive to mimic. Many women believe that in order to lose weight, they need to buy something, whether it be a pill, a food plan, or membership in a self-help group. As a result, an entire industry has been created for the American dieter.

There are currently more than 17,000 different diet plans, products, and programs from which to choose (Hesse-Biber 39). The diet plans, typically geared toward the female market, often promise fast and permanent weight reduction. Jenny Craig has annual revenues of over $400 million, due to the fact that as a culture, we associate beauty and thinness with the good, and ugliness and obesity with the bad. The greatest dissatisfaction with body weight and shape is seen among female college students. Recently, colleges and universities across the country are reporting dramatic increases in eating disorders among their students. There are several reasons why the college environment may be a breeding ground for weight obsession and eating disorders.

Women who live in close quarters such as dorms or sororities, often feel pressured to live up to group standards of beauty. Furthermore, much importance is placed on physical appearance when dating, which helps feed the obsession of thinness among college-aged females. American society's prescription of what it means to be feminine needs a rewrite. Current definitions of femininity are dictated by a social system that gains control over women by defining them primarily in terms of their bodies. In order to see change, women must challenge the industries that feed upon body insecurity. They need to change the messages that women absorb daily.

One method would be to stop purchasing the very fashion magazines that dictate the societal definition of femininity. Large-scale boycotts of these fashion magazines can lead to major change of the feminine ideal. Females should concentrate their efforts in learning who they are as individuals, instead of trying to mimic the ideal models that the media consistently presents them with. Another method that can be used to alleviate the emphasis placed on the ideal figure is through education.

Women need to realize that the images seen in advertisements and on television sitcoms are not the norm. The average American woman is 5'4", a size 12, and 155 pounds (Hesse-Biber 123). How often do we see women of these average proportions in clothing or cosmetic advertisements? The answer to this question is hardly ever. Education is needed to stress the new message that women of all shapes and sizes can be beautiful. This is the new vision of femininity needed for the future.

There are many alternate ways to increase a woman's sense of self-worth and self-esteem rather than admiration of beauty. Improved everyday interactions can be another way to take the emphasis off of a woman's image. Begin to give compliments to friends based on achievement and intelligence rather than on physical appearance. If a woman must be rated, the value should be placed on her mind as opposed to on her body. Since many American women will go to extraordinary lengths to be thin, the only solution for this rampantly growing problem is to attempt to understand why it has become such an obsession. It is clear that media, television, and acquaintances all stress the importance of being thin and beautiful to impressionable young women.

If we as a society could only change the emphasis to be on the mind rather than on the body, women would benefit with increased self-esteem, healthier lifestyles, and increased confidence.