Personal Experience: My Distorted Body Image

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I am fake… ugly…worthless. I conceal my face with layers of makeup hoping that half a bottle of BB cream will be enough to make me as flawless as Kylie Jenner look on the cover of Seventeen magazine. I use innumerous acne medications, aspiring to be as unblemished as the girls in the Clean and Clear commercials. I reject bags of M&Ms and fudge brownies thinking that my sacrifices will make me “love my body” as much as the emaciated Victoria Secret models love theirs (see appendix A). I routinely shave my legs and armpits and pluck my eyebrows with fear of becoming the hairy woman the media deems horrendous. I do everything, yet feel like I am nothing. Nothing compared to the beautiful women pictured on television, magazines, and billboards. Regardless of how many beauty products I use, of how many chocolate chip cookies I decline, of how much money I waste trying to feel pretty, I will always be flawed. I will never be pleased with my appearance because I do not “measure up to the current standard of beauty,” because I am incapable of achieving the body image mass media advertises and—most importantly— expects women to desire (America the Beautiful). I am not going through a phase; my distorted body image (thank you Vogue!) cannot be overlooked the way mass media dismisses the guilt of setting unhealthy, not to mention unattainable, appearance goals for women and of being a leading cause of the eating disorders pandemic among teenage girls. I represent the 70% of all women who, according to America the Beautiful, feel ashamed of their bodies after just 3 minutes of browsing the pages of fashion magazines. I represent the average woman who is “bombarded with images of thin, beautiful young women,” with pictures of celebrities ... ... middle of paper ... ...top Blaming the Media for our Body Image Issues.” Huffington Post Women 1 Jan. 2014. huffingtonpost.com. Web. 22 Feb. 2014. Medium: Web. Dohnt, Hayley and Tiggermann, Marika. “The Contribution of Peer and Media Influences to the Development of Body Satisfaction and Self-Esteem in Young Girls: A Prospective Study.” 27 Mar. 2006. willettsurvery.org. Web. 22 Feb. 2014. Medium: PDF file. Edut, Ophira. Adiós Barbie: Young Women Write About Body Image and Identity. Seattle: Seal Press, 1998. Medium: Print. Solomon, Natalie. “Sophia Bush Declares War on Urban Outfitters.” MTL Blog 13 Sept. 2013. mtlblog.com. 22 Feb. 2014. Medium: Web. Waxler, Barbara. “The Influences of Mental Health and Culture on Weight and Eating Disorders.” Weight In America: Obesity, Eating Disorders, and Other Health Risks 2008ed. Detroit: Gale, 2009. galegroup.com. Web. 22 Feb. 2014. Medium: Web.

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