The Power Of Body Image
By Abbey Moland
Body image, though not usually detailed as such, is one of the most visible aspects defining our culture today. This issue itself influences aspects that we commonly disassociate with how we look. For example, it has been statistically proven that thin women have a higher chance of getting into elite colleges than overweight women with identical credentials. Seems unfair, right? Possibly. One thing is for sure: image is everything. We have been researching this topic unknowingly for all of our lives-- and we have all become subjects for the media's ruthless experimentation with the power of image. True, the overall look of the ideal woman has changed, but the problem arises when real women try to change themselves to look like these "model" women.
The whole idea of trying to fulfill these perfect standards has resulted in a multitude of problems plaguing our society. It would be much easier for our society to redefine our image of perfection than it would be to actually change and conform to the ideals present pop culture suggests. Our culture is obsessed with the style, the power, and the image beauty itself creates. The past century of fashion and beauty has more or less tried to define the perfect woman. This definition is constantly changing, but one thing is unmistakably certain: throughout the last century, an increasing amount of emphasis has been placed on body image and standards for how a woman is supposed to look.
The media can almost be held entirely responsible for our cultural definition of beauty. What comes to mind at the mention of the word "beauty"? Regardless, this image can be directly attributed to the stereotypical waif manufactured by corporate America. The average model weighs approximately 23 percent less then the average woman and is five to six inches taller. Today, girls as young as 5 are very body conscious. Some, not much older, have even started dieting. In fact, by age 13, 53 percent of American girls doubt their bodies in some way or another and by the age of 17, the percentage jumps to 78 percent.
Ironically, this obsession with body doesn't seem to coincide with the progression and liberation of women throughout the last century. Women have made immense progress in breaking through the chains of discrimination and stereotypes deeming and demeaning them as the weaker sex. But this proves to be somewhat confusing when it comes to the
images of a woman created by our culture. Though the period of women's suffrage appears to be over, it seems a new form of it has emerged and is progressing at an intolerable rate. Surprisingly, women inflict this suffrage upon themselves! They are doing anything possible to imitate these unattainable standards: from eating disorders, to dieting, to over-exercising, to plastic surgery, resulting in problems far worse than any caused by nineteenth century corsets. Our gender as a whole seems to have narrowed our scope of the term "liberation" by using extreme measures to conform to the ideals of society.
My idea of beauty was not only defined by numerous teen magazines but also by the sun-tanned, plastic limbs and bleach-blonde hair of Barbie. Now, as a senior in high school, it is hard for me to imagine molding a perception of beauty by myself. We are not born with an innate appeal to certain looks, but rather, we are taught what is beautiful. Therefore, whatever you or I define as beautiful is only a direct ramification of the airbrushed images that waltz across the glossy pages of magazines and our television sets.
I am not holding one source entirely at fault for the downward spiral into which body image has evolved. The media, however, is the underlying current of our society whether or not we wish to acknowledge it. In this case, the media is not able to portray the average woman in a positive manner. The "average" woman, with her apparent faults is always pictured directly next to the ideal woman, reveling in her perfection. The mere representation suggests a regressive nature to us average women with all of our imperfections. Hopefully, some day we will see a world where the term body image is not definable by 5-year old girls and society itself drowns in the utter meaning of the word acceptance.
As far as society is concerned--we are all mimics. We watch and instinctively copy. If this view of the tall, lanky, emaciated woman, with an ironically large chest is the pursued norm, we all want to embody it--no matter what the cost may be. The media is the mind of society. We must abandon the idea that we are only beautiful if we possess certain physical traits. A minority of the population is able to ignore the unrealistic call for these ideals, while the larger percentage, supported by numerous statistics, is very impressionable. Changing these views must start somewhere. It needs to start with the media, and slowly but surely, people will redefine body image themselves.
As women of an increasingly diverse society, we must be conscious of the task that lies ahead of us: to redefine beauty and body image so the next generation of girls won't encounter the criticism and suffrage that will befall all of us, the supposedly strong women who fought so hard before them.