This unrealistic portrayal of a typical woman has been increasing more and more over the years. Up until 45 years ago, the average woman (and many times 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). From the 1600’s up until the 1960’s the desired body image of a female was more voluptuous and curvy. Candace De Puy and Dana Dovitch addressed this is an edition of a feminist magazine:
The master artist Rembrandt (b.1606-d.1669) painted pictures of the most beautiful women of his day - voluptuous, round and sensual. And the Impressionist painter Renoir (b.1841-d.1919) is known for his meaty nudes stepping out of the bath. In the l950's and 60's the archetypal femme fatale was Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn wore a size l2. She had a tummy, thighs, soft neck and arms. She was a far cry from the emaciated high fashion waif look created by designer Calvin Klein in the form of his favorite model Kate Moss who wore a size 0 (De Puy).
Why the switch from the average, healthy body image to the impractical skinny one of today? One reason these women suggest is that it is based around money. Advertisers had to make people feel worse about themselves to sell products and make more money. They developed a link between the slim body and eternal youth. Another factor is related to times of economic prosperity. One hundred years ago, the middle class did not have much money compared to the middle class today. Back then, the more plump models were linked with wealth because they could afford to eat all kinds of foods, therefore making them more desirable to the public. Today, the middle class has enough money and does not desire extra money as much as they had in the past. This would make the voluptuous models, who are linked with wealth, less appealing to them. Today, the public is more concerned with youth and immortality, and the thin models represent that (De Puy).
It is kind of ironic that people believe today’s gravely thin models to be linked with health and immortality. Many of them practice dangerous ways of dieting in order to obtain this body image. They have extremely low body mass indexes and many do not get the proper nutrients. This would make them not as healthy as the average person and less likely to live a longer life.
There are some serious health hazards that come with eating disorders. 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). Of the 10 million women suffering with eating disorders in the U.S. today, 50,000 of them will die as a result (Hartline). If girls are informed about these harmful repercussions early in life, they may realize that obtaining this “perfect body” is not worth risking death for.
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