Changing Image of the Woman's Body

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The idea of what a women’s body image should be has changed much throughout history. Our society places a high priority on beauty and body image. Just a century ago “Fat was seen as a silken layer that graced the frames of elegant ladies.” (Fallon et al., 1994,) So what has changed over the years that this idea of what a beautiful woman was is now seen as ugly and unworthy? Why do we allow the media to dictate what the ideal body image is?
Body image as defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary “a subjective picture of one's own physical appearance established both by self-observation and by noting the reactions of others” Women are assaulted from all angles about what the perfect body is and how to get it. The media has a very influential effect on society. The media distorts and misrepresents beauty into something that is unattainable for women, especially young girls. Whether it is the airbrushed Victoria’s Secret model in magazines or advertisements about new weight loss options, women are more insecure and unhappy than ever before trying to achieve the ”perfect body” to make them happy. The media as well as our own issues with self-image has pushed the fashion industry into the multi-billion dollar machine it is today. According to Susie Orbach, women are urged to conform, to help out the economy by continuous consumption of goods and clothing which are quickly made unwearable next fashion season styles in clothes and body weight. With the exploits of too thin women on magazine covers, these are the women whom we have chosen to look up to as what normal is even though the average woman is a size 12. We are starving ourselves to fit the ideals of what is visually put out there by the media and what the fashion industry wants us...

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...oap real beauty campaign gives us hope that women’s ideas of themselves and what is considered beautiful can be attainable unlike what the media wants us to believe. This campaign promotes women, especially young girls to be comfortable with their bodies by establishing good body image and positive self-esteem. These are real women who show that they are happy with themselves even though their body isn’t what the typical media induced thought of beautiful is. The campaign even helps educate girls to deal with their ideas of beauty. There is a small trend working for a more positive body image of women. There is a backlash of the photo shopped model/celebrity. Unfortunately the media continues to sell thinness and women continue to buy into it. Naomi Wolf said “She wins who calls herself beautiful and challenges the world to change to truly see her.” (Wolf, 1991)

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