Female Body Image Essay

Imagine feeling like you aren’t good enough every day of your life. You are bombarded by photos of photoshopped models and plastic surgery. You feel like you can't breath. This is a reality for many women today. In today’s society, the female body image is horribly distorted, resulting in girls feeling insecure, developing eating disorders, and committing suicide.
The pressure to measure up to society’s expectations is overwhelming causing these girls to feel insecure. An alarming 90% of girls aged 15-17 want to change something about themselves, weight being the biggest one. It’s absolutely horrifying to think that girls that young already want to change themselves. A study shows that by the age of 17, 78% of girls say that they are unhappy with their bodies. A huge factor in this is the way the female body is portrayed in the media. The average model is 5’10” and 107 lbs and the

average woman is 5’4” and weighs 166 lbs. This doesn't add up. Women need better representation in the modern media. When these girls see these model that are considered to be the “ideal body type” and they look nothing like that, they feel horrible. This horribly distorted view of the female body makes these girls want to try and get this body, which can be dangerous.
The amount of girls and women who have eating disorders is horrifying. The innocent dieting turns into something way more severe in a matter of years. Studies state that nearly 1 in 100 girls between 12 and 18 have anorexia. 8% of the US population have eating disorders. That may not sound like a lot but that means about 25,512,000 people in the US have eating disorders, 90% of that being female. When these girls develop eating disorders only about half will have a full recovery. Treatment is extremely expensive being, $30,000 a month. If these girls don't get help it can take a turn for the worst.
These girls can ruin or even end their lives when they try to get these bodies.

It is approximated 1,000 women die from anorexia every year. 2%-5% of people who develop these disorders will end up committing suicide. In 1994, the cause of death being “anorexia” or “anorexia nervosa” was mentioned on 2,758 death certificates. The death rates for bulimia nervosa may not seem that bad being only 3.9%. This translates to 183,300 deaths on average. The death rates for anorexia nervosa is 4%. This totals to 320,000 people. Even though these stats are scary enough, some people don’t feel that it is that bad for these girls.
There are things others may argue against this. The main one is that it is just as bad for boys. They state that male models are nowhere near the average man, They say that if we help girls we must help boys just as much. They may also argue that it is healthy for these girls to see these body types so they don’t become fat. They bring up the fact that that society has begun to show different body types that are all healthy and good for reference for these young

girls.
These claims are outrageous. It has been proven that the effects on girls are way worse than boys. It has also been proven that it happens way more often. 58% of female characters had remarks about their looks, whereas male characters compare at a mere 24%. As I previously stated 90% of people with eating disorders in the US are females. The second claim is just clear and plainly unreasonable. As I also previously stated the average model measurements and the average women measurements do not line up. Although it may be healthy for these girls to try and remain and healthy body type it can take a very bad turn if their body is simply not made like the model. These claims were overall not valid.
In conclusion, something needs to change. Young girls go throughout their life thinking everyday that they aren’t pretty enough and this needs to stop. Even though it may be hard for boys it is much harder for girls. The things these girls are exposed to are nor healthy. Girls becoming insecure, developing eating disorders, and committing suicide are all the result of the skewed view of the female body in the modern media. When will this change?