Through the years the definition of a beautiful woman has changed in many ways, shapes, and forms. Roberta Seid explained that “The female body has not altered for thousands of years; the range of body types in the past does not differ from the range we know today. What has changed is the body type (or types) regarded as ideal, as well as the effort put into meeting this ideal the methods used to do so (296).” She also goes on to explain that compared to today voluptuous women were the more preferred women compared to those that were slim (297). So why has today’s society become so obsessed with being so exceedingly thin when for many years before curvy women were considered ideal? Many women, teenagers, and even young girls look at themselves …show more content…
A “thigh gap,” flat stomach, narrow shoulders, and big breasts are all terms that would most likely be used; however, according to Tabitha Farrar, this body type is not one to be consider healthy, but in most cases underweight and even anorexic. This shows that girls are being exposed to women that are not even healthy to be admiring. If a girl were to try to replicate looking like a model, then their health would not be kept safe. The models that are put on runways are also made to look tall, skinny, and tan. In the eyes of the designers and viewers these models that all have the same body type are considered beautiful. However, all of these things are what girls and women are aiming for and if they do not accomplish looking like this, then they will feel like they are not good enough for people. There is a term that has been circulating called thin-ideal media. This term refers to any media source that has a very thin women as the center or lead role (Farrar). Because girls are exposed to so much media, 20,000 ads per year, they get the image that these girls are normal sized, when in reality, the girls in those pictures and movies, are typically an unhealthy weight. If the media were to alter their products by using healthier girls, then American culture would most likely slowly move towards that skinny is not always …show more content…
Most females, despite their age, will decide to diet if they feel as if they are not as skinny as the people they see on T.V. and in magazines. Seeing these girls that America calls beautiful, influences girls to look the same way, but a lot of the time in an unhealthy way. Fashion models carry the eating disorder stereotype meaning that most people believe that all models are either anorexic or bulimic. In T.V. shows, models are often shown to have eating disorders to be skinny, which results in viewers being lead to believe that by not eating one can quickly become skinny, which is often true. However, this is not the healthy way to do so. By eating a healthy and clean diet while obtaining the recommended amount of exercise daily is the proper way to lose weight in a healthy way (Farrar). Girls and even women do not realize that eating disorders do not follow a healthy lifestyle. Women and girls need to be educated on ways to lose weight without being harmful to the body and a lot of celebrities do not advocate this behavior enough. Instead, more celebrities are put on magazine covers for having an eating disorder, but not many of them are idolized for losing weight the healthy