. The look they strive for is one that is artificial. Airbrushing touches up these images of women in magazines and on television. The women have wrinkles taken off, pores erased and sometimes even whole chunks of body parts are slimmed down to get the best curves. Sometimes these curves and measurements are impossible for any women to achieve. If Barbie were real she would be seven feet tall and have a shoe six of three. Her measurements would be 36'-24'-36'(Kilbourne). This an impossible body image to gain. Pamela Anderson is 5'7" and weighs 120 pounds. She is a beauty icon in our popular culture today but she is also 11% under normal body weight. Actresses such as Julia Roberts and Cameron Diaz both meet the requirements to be considered anorexic. (Rader).
             In an article written by Anne Morris, she stated that in one study, 44% of adolescent girls believed they were over weight and 60% were actually trying to lose weight. The surprising thing was that majority of these girls were already in the normal weight range. Morris also states that these girls made it most important to be thin and look like women on television, in movies, or in magazines that they were starting to purge at least once a month. These studies
             and results show how this type of media exposure can have a harmful effect on today's female society. In a survey done with girls from grades 5 to 12, girls reported how often they read magazines and what their attitudes were towards exercising and weight loss behaviors. Results were that girls who read these magazines frequently were ones who were most likely to diet and exercise to lose weight (Morris). These studies and surveys illustrate how exposure young girls and women get from mass media can influence their perception of the ideal body weight.
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