If Barbie were a person, she would be 7’2” with measurements of 40-22-36(bust, waist, hips) (Alston). Many girls grow up looking at Barbie as a role model for what an attractive woman looks like. In reality, a woman’s waist would have to be about the size of her head to look like Barbie. From the time they are very young, girls are pressured to live up to such unrealistic standards concerning their appearance, specifically their weight. Numerous reasons exist for why young women today feel pressured to be skinny and suffer from one of many types of eating disorders.
The most common forms of eating disorders are anorexia and bulimia. Anorexia is starving oneself in order to obtain excessive weight loss (Anorexia). Bulimia is a cycle of binge eating and purging (through either vomiting or abuse of laxatives) in order to avoid weight gain (Bulimia). Over 90% of people diagnosed with an eating disorder are adolescent young women. One third of college women are bulimic. Girls as young as nine diet (Ice). These statistics can only lead one to believe that something is making girls, young women in particular, feel pressured to be skinny.
Society plays a large factor in shaping a woman’s idea about what she should look like. Today in Hollywood, thin is in. Actresses, singers, and models set a high standard for what beautiful women should look like. With the TV being on for 7 hours and 40 minutes per day in the average household (TV Habit), girls and young women are constantly being reminded that skinny equals pretty. No wonder 78% of 18-year-old females are unhappy with their bodies (TV Habit). You rarely see a movie, commercial, or music video that does not have women with thin bodies and flat stomachs. Girls look through a fashion or clothing magazine and rarely ever see a girl that is overweight, let alone of an average weight.
This unrealistic portrayal of a typical woman has been increasing more and more over the years. Fifty years ago, the average woman (and sometimes even the slightly overweight woman) was portrayed as beautiful. On the other hand, the extremely skinny women were seen as the outcasts. Consequently, incidents concerning eating disorders have doubled since 1960 (Ice).
Because the media has set ideas for what is beautiful, it affects everyone’s idea of what beauty is. This leads to girls and young women feeling pressure from some adults and males to be thin also. Many girls think they must be skinny and look like the women on TV to get boys to like them. Sadly enough, many males do set their standards to match the girls they see on TV. Some girls deal with it and learn to accept themselves and other girls try to mold themselves into these “idols”.
When girls do not meet the standards that they see on TV, they develop a sense of self-consciousness about their bodies, which further leads to low self-esteem. In order to feel more comfortable about their bodies, they try to model themselves after the women they see on TV. Some girls diet or work out, which is okay to a certain extent. There is a point where working out becomes an obsession or dieting develops into an eating disorder. This is when things become dangerous to a girl’s health.
Anorexia can quickly lead to malnutrition. It starts with smaller health risks such as fatigue and fainting and can eventually lead to osteoporosis, kidney failure (because of severe dehydration) and even heart failure (Anorexia). Bulimia starts with symptoms such as tooth decay and inflammation of the esophagus (from purging) and can also result in heart failure. In extreme cases of both, death can occur (Bulimia). Seeing as there are extremely harmful effects of eating disorders, it is overall unhealthy for women to try to obtain “the perfect body”.
Considering that the number of eating disorder incidents has doubled in the past 40 years, what is going to happen in the next 40 years? The numbers are only more likely to continue to grow. The frightening statistics concerning eating disorders should be sending a message to society. Because of unrealistic standards typically set by the media, girls are developing low self esteem and driving themselves to starvation just to become “beautiful”.