Modeling; hurting more than helping

789 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Eating disorders with lower self esteem case study

Eating disorders are no joke and more than half the time, this problem begins in girls as young as grade one. One thing that plays a huge role in low self esteem and disorders is modeling. Showing hardly dressed women with legs the size of the average person’s arm is not putting a positive image in the minds of young girls. Modeling should not be used because it can be extremely harmful to others.
Many young girls read magazines and watch TV and look up to the models that they see. They then get the idea that their bodies should look that way and if it does not, they are unattractive. It is said that models promote you to be “comfortable with the skin you’re in” and to be yourself but how can that be when the size of models are getting smaller and smaller. As these negative thoughts sit in their heads, their self esteem begins to plummets to an all time low, ultimately doing the opposite of what was intended. Frederique van der Wal, a former Victoria secret model went to the New York Fashion Week show back in 2006 and said “I was shocked by the models that seemed to be skinner than in previous years” (Hellmich1). If a former model can see the damage in extremely skinny models, society and agencies definitely should. Models make girls, especially from the ages of 13-25 feel extremely bad about themselves. Above all, society makes model’s body images seem like the right or “perfect” image and for the sake of girls’ self esteem it needs to stop.
Eventually, low self esteem can turn into much more drastic issues like anorexia and bulimia. What many do not know is anorexia is more than a physical disease; it is also a mental disease. The thought of being “thin like the models” gets stuck in their heads, making them refuse to eat and co...

... middle of paper ...

...needs to be eliminated immediately. People everywhere are being affected and hurt by too thin models and the agencies that are not correctly doing their jobs and taking anorexic models off the runway. Being thin is only a trend, but the consequences will last a lifetime.

Works Cited

Critchell, Samantha. "Vogue Bans Too-Skinny Models from Its Pages." Newsday. 04
May. 2012: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
Hellmich, Nanci. "Do Thin Models Warp Girls' Body Image?." USA TODAY. Sept. 25 2006: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
Rodenbough, Libby. "Killer Fashion: An Industry in Denial." In These Times. Apr. 2011: 22-25. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
Rubin, Shira. "Israel Tells Underweight Models to Gain Weight or Get Off the Runway." Christian Science Monitor. 04 Jan. 2013: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.

Show More
Related

  • 'Anorexia Nervosa And Bulimia' Written By Penelope A.

    560 Words  | 2 Pages

    However, these views don’t take social process into consideration. Therefore, they organized a self-help group for bulimics and anorexics known as BANISH in order to determine what societal aspects cause these disorders. The author’s group consisted mostly of college age females which is significant because this is group primarily affected by these disorders. Interestingly, the backgrounds of the women in the BANISH group are strikingly similar in that they are excellent students, good children who have very close parental relationships, from “functional” families - all having been brought up with an emphasis on thin physical appearance. The authors also allude to the fact that in today’s society, slimness is considered attractive and most worthy, while being overweight is viewed as both morally and physically wrong. Society labels heavy people as “lazy, obscene, and unhealthy”. (244) It is noted that when members of the group lost weight, they reported feeling more accepted and

    Read More

  • Perfection In Hawthorne's The Birth Mark

    798 Words  | 2 Pages

    Societal constructs of bodily perfection have a massive influence on both genders and on all ages. If you look at any magazine, you will see women constantly being compared to each other, whether it is in the “who wore it better” section or in the “do’s and don’ts” part of the magazine, comparing body images and overall appearances. All parts of the media that encompasses our daily lives are especially dangerous for young and impressionable teens because they see people being torn down for trying to express themselves, and are thus taught to not only don’t look like “don’ts”, but also look like the “do’s”. This is dangerous in that women in the magazine set very high standards that teens want to emulate, no matter the cost to themselves or their health. Celebrities have the benefit of media to make them appear perfect: Photoshop and makeup artists conceal the imperfections that are often too apparent to the naked eye. Viewing celebrities as exhibiting the ideal look or as idols will, in most cases, only damage the confidence of both young teens, and adults, and warp the reality of what true “beauty” really is. It makes teens never feel truly content with themselves because they will be aiming for an ideal that is physically impossible to attain and one that doesn’t exist in the real

    Read More

  • Tyra Banks: America's Next Top Model

    906 Words  | 2 Pages

    “According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, about 70 percent of girls grades five through 12 said magazine images influence their ideals of a perfect body, a fact that’s plain to see in the online world of teenage ‘thinspiration’” (Krupnick 1). This quote explains that girls in grades five to 12 are more likely to have a lower self esteem because of the idea of a perfect body beinging spread through social media. Models enjoy sharing their work with their fans their instagram and twitter accounts, which isn’t wrong. However, sometimes the pictures they post are exposed subtly, this causes for the pictures to get under someone's skin before they notice. These models, like Kylie and Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid, are idealized but billions of people and have millions of followers on social media but all they do is post pictures of them living the luxury life that everyone watches. These posts could either help influence teens to work harder or cause them to try to achieve what they want in a harmful way. Having weight and height limits will lower the self esteem of others because they put out an image that most people think they must look

    Read More

  • Eating Disorders and The Media

    1688 Words  | 4 Pages

    Our society today is heavily influenced by the media and the imagery it shows. Though it may be indirect, the media provides unhealthy messages about ideal body sizes, gender attractiveness, and weight control that make women view themselves in a negative way. Magazines, television, and movies influence teenage girls on what they believe their body image should be. The images they show set the standard of what is considered physically attractive in our society. With the use of photoshop, media depicts falsified images of models and actresses to create a perfected look that is unattainable by the average woman. This creates a desire among teenage girls to look like these stars that are often shown. When teenage girls look at these images, they compare themselves to those images, and then judge themselves based on these comparisons. These judgements can potentially lead to eating disorders. In order to prevent the risk of eating disorders among teenage girls, the media should depict a typical image of people, rather than idolizing a specific standard of beauty.

    Read More

  • Influence of the Media on Eating Disorders

    2668 Words  | 6 Pages

    The media can impact people’s lives in many ways, whether it’s fashion, movies, literature, or hobbies. One of the impacts is how women view their bodies. Movie stars and models feel pressured to catch attention and to look good in order to have a good career in their respective field. People tend to judge how someone looks based on their body composition. The result of this “judgment” is that Hollywood is getting skinny. Since models and actresses serve as role models for people, people tend to want to look like them. The result of this seemingly harmless model of behavior is in an increase in eating disorders.

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Plump Models

    430 Words  | 1 Pages

    Modeling has been an ideal for both men and women; it’s given us a standard of beauty that can cause both aspiration and jealousy. Over the decades, the once high standards that were given to models to provide both ambition and longevity has now slackened. Models are much more “plump” as society has adapted to a more dormant lifestyle; appealing to the everyday average man/woman.

    Read More

  • Negative Essay On Anorexia Nervosa

    823 Words  | 2 Pages

    Becoming healthy should lead to happiness; however an unhealthy lifestyle and attitude can lead to depression. Anorexia Nervosa is a life-threatening disorder that not only affects the body, but it affects the mind. It is a mental disorder that creates an unhealthy obsession with someone’s weight and body image, leading to people who look nothing more than skin and bones. Television, magazines and the internet seem to criticize people’s looks and body types, however could they be representing a small population? There are a large amount of people who have fallen into obesity – perhaps the media are simply promoting a healthier diet and lifestyle. Without this push to become healthy, the amount of people becoming obese will increase drastically.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Eating Disorders

    5465 Words  | 11 Pages

    In civilized societies, there are continuous prizing of thinness than ever before. Occasionally, almost everyone is watchful of their weight. Individuals with an eating disorder take extreme measures to concern where they ultimately shift their mode of eating, this abnormal eating pattern threatens their lives and their well-being. According to Reel (2013), eating disorders are continually misapprehended as all about food and eating. However, there is more to that as the dysfunction bears from emotion concealing a flawed relationship with food, physical exercise and oneself. Persons with eating disorders convey fault-finding, poor self- esteem and intense body discontent. This can lead to extreme distress of gaining weight,

    Read More

  • Unrealistic Body Images

    1147 Words  | 3 Pages

    In conclusion, women should be comfortable in their own skin and shouldn’t feel compelled to be as thin as a model. Women need to feel appropriate and content in their own skin, and to not feel inferior to the model on TV or pasted in a magazine advertisement. We are all different and no woman is exactly the same and even the ones that seem to be picture perfect have flaws and love handles, and women need to realize that is the truth. So, by accepting one’s self for who they truly are and what they have accomplished in life is what is going to boost our self-esteem. Once the world understands this, then the media won’t have such a monumental affect on society.

    Read More

  • The Need for Diversity in the Fashion Industry

    1415 Words  | 3 Pages

    Fashion models don’t need to be thin, they need to be diverse and healthy at whatever weight that is. Not everyone is supposed to be thin, some women are big boned and curvy, others are naturally slim and small boned, some are tall, others are short, some are light skinned and others are darker. So many diverse looks exist in the world today and the fashion industry need to change their perception of perfect. Body image in our society is out of control. We have young men and women comparing themselves to unrealistic models and images in the media and feeling bad about the way their own bodies look because they somehow don’t measure up. (Dunham, 2011) The struggle for models to be thin has led to models becoming anorexic or bulimic, untimely deaths, and inferiority complexes. Even worse is the fact that they influence a whole generation of young women who look up to these models and think “thin” is how they are supposed to be. They influence what we buy, how we eat and what we wear. Why has this specific group captured our attention so much? Why do we seem to be so fascinated in their lives, to the point where we try to look and act just like them? The media is largely to be blamed for this, many people believe the media has forced the notion that everything supermodels do is ideal. Others believe that the society is to be blamed because we have created a fascination with their lives. There are many opinions, and I agree with both of these specific opinions. We allow ourselves to be captivated by these people's lives, and the media portrayal of their lives seem to also enthrall us. (Customessaymeister, 2013) Despite the severe risks of forcing models to become too thin, designers, fashion editors, fashion brands and agencies still ...

    Read More

  • An Overview of Anorexia Nervosa

    1876 Words  | 4 Pages

    Out of all mental illnesses found throughout the world, eating disorders have the highest mortality rate. Anorexia nervosa is one of the more common eating disorders found in society, along with bulimia nervosa. Despite having many definitions, anorexia nervosa is simply defined as the refusal to maintain a normal body weight (Michel, 2003). Anorexia nervosa is derived from two Latin words meaning “nervous inability to eat” (Frey, 2002). Although anorexics, those suffering from anorexia, have this “nervous inability to eat,” it does not mean that they do not have an appetite—anorexics literally starve themselves. They feel that they cannot trust or believe their perceptions of hunger and satiation (Abraham, 2008). Anorexics lose at least 15 percent of normal weight for height (Michel, 2003). This amount of weight loss is significant enough to cause malnutrition with impairment of normal bodily functions and rational thinking (Lucas, 2004). Anorexics have an unrealistic view of their bodies—they believe that they are overweight, even if the mirror and friends or family say otherwise. They often weigh themselves because they possess an irrational fear of gaining weight or becoming obese (Abraham, 2008). Many anorexics derive their own self-esteem and self-worth from body weight, size, and shape (“Body Image and Disordered Eating,” 2000). Obsession with becoming increasingly thinner and limiting food intake compromises the health of individuals suffering from anorexia. No matter the amount of weight they lose or how much their health is in jeopardy, anorexics will never be satisfied with their body and will continue to lose more weight.

    Read More

  • Responsibility of the Fashion Model Industry

    1518 Words  | 4 Pages

    A tall, glamorous runway model is every girl’s dream. Long beautiful legs, lean body, and beautiful shiny hair is what an average young woman views as an ideal image for a female. If you don’t resemble the images of those stunning Victoria Secret models and Fashion Week models, you suddenly become ashamed of your own body. It is a great life to have with the high pay, fame, drinking champagne on a yacht with famous celebrities and even being on the Vogue cover page. Fashion Modeling Industry has been the most influential source in our young women’s lives. Young girls and young women are seen eating as little as they can, even starving themselves at times to resemble those models. What they don’t realize is that they are contributing to the 2.7 percentage of 13- 18 year olds suffering from anorexia and bulimia. Susan Albers, a psychologist at the Cleveland Clinic said exposure to thin models is a great trigger in maintaining an eating disorder. When watching America’s Next Top Model or flipping through a Fashion magazine, these young women don’t apprehend that those models are either naturally slim or they are suffering from an eating disorder themselves, in other words, hostages in the dark hell hid behind those runway curtains. The growing number of young anorexia and bulimia patients, and the number of websites such as thinspiration, where girls put up pictures of their thin bodies clearly suggest that the fashion modeling industry do not at all bear any responsibility in providing healthy, realistic physical role models for young women.

    Read More

  • The Fashion Industry Promotes Eating Disorders

    1130 Words  | 3 Pages

    Society is now so used to seeing these models who have their beauty and superiority idolized that they feel all women must look this way. However, looking like a model is becoming increasingly unattainable. According to Bennett the difference between the catwalk and reality is so stark that the slightest change in a girls form makes them self-conscious because they are constantly sizing themselves up to models (Bennett). Today models are dramatically thinner and taller than they were a few years a...

    Read More

  • The Influcen of the Fashion Industry on Teenagers' Standard of Beauty

    406 Words  | 1 Pages

    In addition, the startling deaths of the “three very underweight models” (Rosemary 2007) has become the last straw that makes us impossible to accept the eating disorders anymore. These have added to the controversy over the use of extremely thin models in fashion industry because not only does it reduce the self-esteem of those who do not have ideal bodies but it also naturally forces them to become anorexic to look exactly like catwalk models which has been proved to cause “drastic weight loss and premature ageing” (Cooke 2000, pp. 3) severely. No matter how serious the impacts of eating disorders are, the fashion industry still continues giving out the products called “doll clothes” (The Sunday Telegraph, 2009) for young women. People in our society do not want to see teenagers with “jutting bones and no breasts of hips” (The Sunday Telegraph, 2009), we really want to see girls with their healthy body image.

    Read More

  • Free Essay on Eating Disorder - Eating Disorders

    651 Words  | 2 Pages

    It seems like every little girl dreams of becoming a model. They want to be thin and pretty like the models they see on television and in magazines. Often the desire becomes an obsession and young girls see "thinness" as being a needed characteristic. For many girls, the teenage years are spent trying to acquire this look. Females are trying diets and are exercising like it is a competition to see who can lose the most weight the quickest. The obsession of many young girls over their appearance or weight has led to a growing number of people who have developed an eating disorder to try to deal with their lack of self-esteem or other related problems.

    Read More

More about Modeling; hurting more than helping

Open Document