Dieting is becoming a more prevalent occurrence among young girls in America today. Never being satisfied with their bodies, girls are turning to unhealthy diets in an attempt to control their weight and fit into the standard that is being set by the media. Adolescents believe that there is something wrong with them if their weight, hips, and breasts do not match up with what is presented by the media. Dieting is being taken to extremes by girls as young as eight. Society is becoming too wrapped up in physical appearance. Women grow up with the false idea that beauty leads to happiness and success and because of this, the pursuit for thinness is out of control.
“400-600 advertisements bombard us everyday in magazines, on billboards, on TV, and in newspapers. One in eleven has a direct message about beauty, not even counting the indirect messages” (“The Media”). As a result of these messages, eating disorders are on the rise. The most recognized eating disorders include anorexia and bulimia. Anorexia is characterized by a weight that is below normal, fear of gaining weight, starvation dieting, and excessive exercising. Bulimia, on the other hand, deals with an intense fear of weight gain and shifts between dieting and binging. It can also involve the purging of food from the body in ways such as vomiting or emetic use. Research suggests that about one out of every one hundred young women between the ages of ten and twenty have anorexia and are starving themselves sometimes to death. At the same time, about four out of every one hundred college-aged women have bulimia (“Statistics”). Television shows do not accurately portray the size of females in today’s society giving viewers a false awareness of the appearance of those around them. “According to Health magazine, April 2002, 32% of female TV network characters are underweight, while only 5% of females in the U.S. audience are underweight…only 3% of female TV network characters are obese, while 25% of U.S. women fall into that category” (“What Causes”).
It has been found that along with the decrease of models and actresses in the media comes the increase in the number of incidents of eating disorders among women. This problem is not only evident in America.
In May 1999, research was published that demonstrated the media’s unhealthy affect on women’s self-esteem and body awareness. In 1995, before television came to their island, the people of Fiji thought the ideal body was round, plump, and soft. Then, after 38 months of Melrose Place, Beverly Hills 90210, and similar western shows, Fijian teenage girls showed serious signs of eating disorders (“What Causes”).
Through this study, it is evident for one to see the effects that the media has on women, especially young girls who are developing their sense of self. It is astonishing that after just 38 months, the media can play with people’s minds and alter the way they view themselves compared to those around them.
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