Have you ever just looked at yourself in the mirror and thought 'Wow I look good,' but then those confident thoughts and that feeling is just crushed when you see what "true women" look like according to the media. Women in media are shaped into the perfect but very unrealistic bodies but for some reason women are still trying to reach for that body type. A study on body imaging and advertising showed that 69% of girls said that magazines models influence their idea of the perfect body shape. The average U.S. women is 5'4" and weighs 140 pounds whereas the average model is 5'11" and weighs 117 pounds. Even though models are below the average of U.S. women they still get photo shopped into thinner and younger looking women. The images aren't real they are artificial, constructed, and are impossible to actually attain, but real women and girls compare ourselves against it every single day. Of course this exposure to these "ideal" body images have been proven to lower women's satisfaction with her own attractiveness. In a study 47% of girls were influenced by magazine pictures to want to lose weight, but only 29% were actually overweight. This terrible emphasis on physical perfection has caused women to see their own bodies as over weight and disgusting when they are perfectly fine and beautiful. 44% of women who are average or underweight think that they are overweight, because they sit and compare themselves to bodies that aren't real. Through this colossal idea about what women's bodies should look like, women have began to lose the reality of what a healthy body actually looks like. We are all so used to the way female bodies look in commercials and movies that we began to believe that we to need to look like that. It's not possible to look like that without living so unhealthy and probably unhappy. We all need to take a step back from media to realize that commercials aren't a mirror or an expectation to what your body should look like its an ad trying to sell you a product by poking at your weaknesses and insecurities. What we all need to realize is that commercials aren't reality they are made up to sell a product. The women you see in commercials are never going to beat the beauty of your natural self. The person you see in the mirror everyday is real and beautiful, the commercialized you isn't who you truly are or who you should be its a model of you who is jealous that you get to be whoever you want to be.
Have you ever just looked at yourself in the mirror and thought 'Wow I look good,' but then those confident thoughts and that feeling is just crushed when you see what "true women" look like according to the media. Women in media are shaped into the perfect but very unrealistic bodies but for some reason women are still trying to reach for that body type. A study on body imaging and advertising showed that 69% of girls said that magazines models influence their idea of the perfect body shape. The average U.S. women is 5'4" and weighs 140 pounds whereas the average model is 5'11" and weighs 117 pounds. Even though models are below the average of U.S. women they still get photo shopped into thinner and younger looking women. The images aren't real they are artificial, constructed, and are impossible to actually attain, but real women and girls compare ourselves against it every single day. Of course this exposure to these "ideal" body images have been proven to lower women's satisfaction with her own attractiveness. In a study 47% of girls were influenced by magazine pictures to want to lose weight, but only 29% were actually overweight. This terrible emphasis on physical perfection has caused women to see their own bodies as over weight and disgusting when they are perfectly fine and beautiful. 44% of women who are average or underweight think that they are overweight, because they sit and compare themselves to bodies that aren't real. Through this colossal idea about what women's bodies should look like, women have began to lose the reality of what a healthy body actually looks like. We are all so used to the way female bodies look in commercials and movies that we began to believe that we to need to look like that. It's not possible to look like that without living so unhealthy and probably unhappy. We all need to take a step back from media to realize that commercials aren't a mirror or an expectation to what your body should look like its an ad trying to sell you a product by poking at your weaknesses and insecurities. What we all need to realize is that commercials aren't reality they are made up to sell a product. The women you see in commercials are never going to beat the beauty of your natural self. The person you see in the mirror everyday is real and beautiful, the commercialized you isn't who you truly are or who you should be its a model of you who is jealous that you get to be whoever you want to be.
Unfortunately, I fall victim to this a lot. I think that we should change the way we see ourselves, even though it is very hard and takes a lot of time. I think that most girls put up a front and try to show that they are not insecure, but most girls are very insecure. I think that this is a huge problem many girls need to work on, especially the media. I think you have done a great job explicitly explaining the problems in our blog and now we just need to figure how to solve these problems. I just hope we can do it sooner rather than later before more girls hurt themselves. I think that models are very pretty and do a good job and showing off fashion, but not every model has to be 5'11" and 117 pounds. Models can be every shape and size and ethnicities. I feel true fashion can be expressed on any model of any shape or size, not just super skinny models.
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