Argumentative: "Skinny" Ameri
Since the dawn of communication, media has been used to convey news and ideas to anyone willing to take the time to absorb them. Beginning with the printed word and soaring to unimaginable heights with the inception of radio, television and, more recently, the internet, media is able to shape popular culture and influence public opinion. I believe, however, that when abused, the power of the media can harm the general public. Media and its depiction of the ideal body weight are creating problems of low self-esteem, poor body concepts and a rise in eating disorders through spotlighting unrealistic body images. Women have always been concerned with their appearance and it would be difficult to find a culture that doesn't see physical beauty as important. America, however, is taking it to the extreme. It is disturbing that so many women and girls today are led to believe that the only way to be beautiful and desirable is to be pencil-thin with their ribs visible and their collarbones protruding. Women are dieting more today than they have ever done before. They are striving for an unattainable body figure that is portrayed by the media as being the ideal standard for today's woman. Female personalities have grown steadily t
In reality, there are few people in the world who look like the people on the screen. It's not just grown women and insecure teenagers who are affected. Women try to meet an unreasonable weight standard because the fashion industry tells them that they must wear a single-digit size (and the lower the better!) in order to be stylish. I know that I am going to have to be very careful how I present the concept of body image to my own daughter in this horribly distorted world. The diet craze isn't merely a fad, it's a multi-billion dollar industry that relies on people believing their myths and misrepresentations. Standards for men are simply not as extreme. How I view my body and my acceptance of its imperfections will have a huge impact on how she deals with these same concepts in her own life. The difference in these two body types is staggering. We only get one body; we can't really exchange it for a new one. Conservative estimates indicate that 5 to 10 million girls and women are struggling with eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa, bulimia, or borderline conditions. Children as young as six and seven are coming home from school and asking "Mommy, am I fat?" As a mother this both concerns and angers me. In all probability, these people do not actually look like this either. Today's woman can't be too thin or too beautiful. They often associate "thin" with "puny" or "weak. Ok, so nobody is literally forcing them to starve themselves or shove a finger down their throats, but how someone feels about themselves has a direct correlation with how they act.
Common topics in this essay:
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