Women of the nineties are confronted with myriad of images, roles, concepts and possibilities. We do everything within our reach to look our best, be our best, do our best in the many facets of our lives. We strive to express ourselves in the most confident, positive and graceful manner possible. However, to the degree that out outer expression differs from out inner feelings and attitudes, we suffer. Like it or not, we live in a society which is very outer oriented, and we are constantly bombarded by perfect images everywhere we look. We see this so-called perfection in magazines, television, and movies. Somehow we are given the suggestion that we need to be this perfect if we are to ever gain the happiness we seek. You don't have to go very far to notice that the ideal for women's bodies at present is a thin, fit, healthy, young, white woman. Open a magazine, an a

2. D. Waterhouse and Eating Disorders Awareness and Prevention. (1999).

3. England, Paula. Theory On Gender/ Feminism on Theory. Walter de Gruyter, Inc., New York, 1993.

4. Steinem, Gloria. Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions. Henry Holt Co. New York, 1995. (p 176).

A better self-image can make us feel better about ourselves. It is a start to give us the energy to do what we want to do and work for what we want to change. By learning to accept and love our bodies and ourselves we can overcome this ongoing struggle. But to change the societal values underlying body image, we need to do more than love ourselves. In addition, we need to focus out attention on the forces that cause tension between us as women, such as, racism, sexism, ageism, and our obsession with size and shape. In order for this to happen we need to create a world where women feel comfortable to make their own choices about appearances only for ourselves and not for others. Then we can begin to realize that all women have potential no matter what their size.

The idea of body image is so hard to over come, when right when you come out of your mother you are faced with your first sign of inferiority, and that sign is food. In many cases the most often breast feeds her son more than her daughter, and in some countries mothers often breast feed sons for two years or more while they only breast feed the daughters for less than half that time.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Laura Fraser, Waterhouse1999 Women, Gloria Steinem, Bulimia Nervosa, Forty-five American, Anorexia Nervosa, , Co York, Eighty-percent American, Awareness Prevention, own bodies, body image, eating disorder, body weight, ideal woman, ideal body, eating disorders, american women, eating disorder eating, nervosa characterized, clothing sizes, half inches tall,
Approximate Word count = 1908
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)