FREE ESSAY ON AMERICA'S IDEAL WEIGHT

AMERICA'S IDEAL WEIGHT

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Morgan Staton
Professor Townsend
English 1102
18 March 2000
The Ideal Weight
American women constantly struggle with acceptance and appearance. Daily exposure to
images of waif thin models and articles of diets that "will improve your appearance and
self-esteem" only add to the strife. This mass exposure sways our struggle for acceptance
by failing to show us diverse body types. With the huge number of females with eating
disorders (5-10 million) in this country, the media who pushes "thin is in" everyday
seems largely at blame.(5) Many people find it extremely disturbing to see an article on
one page in a magazine of a young girl dying or suffering from anorexia, and on the next
page an ad for clothing with an obviously underweight model. The obvious glorification of
thinness in this country sends a dangerous message to women of all ages- yet who takes
the blame?
In a recent study taken by the Commonwealth Fund, 4 out of 5 American women find their
appearance dissatisfactory and one half of women resort to some type of dieting.(5) This
dissatisfaction clearly resonates from the media- mainly from magazines. Women's
magazines are said to contain 10.5 times more advertisements and articles promoting
weight loss than men's magazines.(5) Rarely do we see a woman on the cover of magazines
such as Cosmopolitan and Glamour that weighs over 120 pounds. 
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True, these magazines often include articles about losing weight in a healthy manner, but
in a study of one teen magazine over a period of 20 years, most of the articles promoted
weight loss saying it would "improve appearance." Of these articles, 74% cited to "become
more attractive" as a reason to exercise, and 51% noted the need to burn calories or lose
weight. In the same study, adolescent girls were polled in regards to health issues and
where they received the information. Ninety-seven percent replied that their source was
the media. (5)
The "ideal body" craze does not just affect women and teenagers but children as well. The
need to be thin resides on the minds of one half of American elementary school students
between first and third grade. This seems ridiculous to many, since most children do not
lose their baby fat until they reach the age of 13. Yet maybe the media does not take
full responsibility in the influencing, but people in general and their obsession with
placing a value on personal size and shape. The statistics on children and their concern
about weight can be traced to the parents possibly putting pressure on them. Four out of
5 children at age 10 have expressed a fear of becoming fat, and one half of children of
the same age feel better about themselves if they are on a diet. (5)
Although most of these parents feel as though they are doing the right thing by
suggesting diets for their children, they may in fact do more harm than good. Studies
have shown that "mothers who are overly concerned about their daughters' weight and
physical attractiveness may put the girls at increased risk of developing an eating
disorder." (1) College students are in the spotlight for eating disorders as well, trying
to 
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avoid the "freshman fifteen." As many of them claim they are just on a diet, however,
they are really putting themselves at high risk for obtaining an eating disorder.(2)
Perhaps if women of all ages knew the real facts behind the photo shoots of Cosmopolitan
magazine they would not obsess over being thin. ABC's program 20/20 aired a story on a
photo shoot of Cindy Crawford, showing 2 hours of digital editing and airbrushing that
was done to her face and body. Not only did they make her face appear flawless, they
trimmed her thighs and arms to make them seem thinner. They then went in and took any
visible fat cells on her thighs and erased them. This is not to say Cindy Crawford has a
weight problem or a flawed body. Perhaps today's models cannot live up to the standards
set by our society. 
People magazine recently pointed out that Miss America contestants have become much more
thin over the past years- so thin that they weigh in at a striking "15 percent below
recommended body weight for their height."(4) Yet, Miss America is not the only thing in
this country changing it's weight standard. Marilyn Monroe, a prominent figure of beauty
in and American icon 30 years ago, wore a size twelve. Now such figures as Cindy Crawford
and Kate Moss are idolized and they wear a size two- maybe four. Trying to obtain this
body type is impossible for most women in this country- even if they starve
themselves.(4) What most women need to realize is that only a handful (5%) of women in
America actually look like the models seen on magazine covers. The 5'4, 142 pound women
that many of us are is normal- not the 5'9, 110 pound figure seen on the cover of Glamour
and Cosmopolitan.(1) Yet when today's society labels women in 
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the normal weight range "wrong and unattractive" it makes the word normal lose all
meaning. This may explain why diet products have brought in over 33 billion dollars in
profit annually.(4)
A possibility exists that the media does not directly cause eating disorders and weight
obsessions, yet they do affect the way Americans perceive themselves. Perhaps if 
the media concentrated on a variety of body types and included a more positive message
regarding health and self-esteem; this issue could be reduced significantly. People might
not concentrate on one particular body type and in time could learn to value their health
and normality of their body and its size and shape.