Myths of eating disorders
What is it that is deep in the souls of people that makes them believe thin is in, or thinner is more beautiful? Why are all the ladies and men of advertising sending the message that slim is hip, its a fad? Or the billboards all over the city display skinny woman in nice clothing. Is this the message society want its children to see? Or does media, man, and society just ignorantly push people in general to thinking this is better? As Maggie Helwig writes in her essay " A Certain Hunger " " It was a fad, in a sense, the illness of the month."(EW 340). She talks about eating disorders being a fad, people starving themselves or making themselves vomit an in thing to do. Every time you turn on your television, every time you drive downtown in a major city, and every time you read a magazine you are being submitted to this thinking. Television, with its all too powerful role today, shows children images of emaciated women they are supposed to look up to. Almost every role model in television is slim and trim and made out to be so beautiful. Why is that so? What about Marilyn Monroe? She was a size 13 yet she was considered one of the most beautiful women ever, and still is, yet if a woman today looked like her she wouldn't be
Can men in general be put to blame? Men in the past have been the figurehead for authority and rulership in general. But in the past woman never had to be thin to be in so when exactly did this migration of thinking come into effect? In the 1960's there became awareness of such disorders with eating, although it didn't become public until the 70's. How and why did this pattern of thinking evolve? With time trends change and with trends come new idols. Did Charlies Angels begin the fad of thin? Three beautiful slim women fighting crime. Or was it the men behind the scenes who control the stations and advertising? Men have swooned over half naked bodies for eons, there has always been some sort of entertainment that involved woman and their bodies. Wether it was a bordello, whorehouse, or prostitute that type of entertainment has been around for centuries. And the continual battle for customers could, in fact, have made woman want to look better for the men. Which could have sparked wives and prospective wives to look better for their men. Or have women as a whole, over the years, decided that they should look slimmer because it looks prettier? regarded the same way. Another plug is the ever so popular billboards all over city buildings and intercity highways. Skinny, pretty women wearing pretty clothing and
Some common words found in the essay are:
Tommy Hilfeiger, Weight Watchers, Charlies Angels, Maggie Helwig, , Marilyn Monroe, Rosie O'Donnell, Media Society, Stahl Imperale, BB King, billboards city, media society, skinny woman, people believe,
Approximate Word count = 889
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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