Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. In the eyes of society, women like Pamela Anderson, Tyra Banks and Carmen Electra are the epitome of perfection. What girl would not want to be just like them? Every year, millions of people are hurting themselves trying to be carbon copies of these sex symbols. The media presents society with unrealistic body types promoting people, especially women, to look like them. Through TV shows, commercials, magazines or any form of advertising, the media enforces a certain body type which women emulate. The so-called perfect body type causes many negative effects on women in the US. Women who focus on unrealistic body images tend to have lower self-esteem and are more likely to fall prey to eating disorders. The media has a dangerous influence on women's health in the United States. The media is a primary factor in the development and maintenance of women's body image problems.

Women start to feel insecure about their bodies by looking at media images daily. This provokes women to diet more because they feel more pressure to be slim. "But advertisers are not particularly wicked people who set out to delude and mislead us. They simply provide

Someone with an eating disorder is addicted to food or dieting, like an alcoholic is addicted to liquor, or a drug addict to drugs. Food becomes their whole life. "Anorexia has been known and recognized by doctors for at least 300 years. Initially the characteristic that was described was the striking weight loss and emaciation resulting from failure to eat. There are, however, a number of organic illnesses that result in loss of appetite and consequent weight loss, and so from the late 19th century doctors tried to describe more exactly what anorexia was and began to exclude organic causes and to identify it as a psychological illness" (Buckroyd 3). Girls suffering from anorexia show a refusal to maintain body weight over a minimal normal weight for their age. They are disturbed by their body image and are always claiming to "feel fat." Women have intense fear of gaining weight.

Bulimia is another psychological illness similar to anorexia. It is the practice of consuming enormous amounts of food them throwing it up to avoid the weight gain. Girls suffering from bulimia have recurrent episodes of binge eating and regularly engage in self-induced vomiting an average of 2 times a week. These girls have a persistent over concern with body shape and weight. Some characteristics that may occur with bulimia are damage to tooth enamel, digestive disorders, irritation of throat and mouth, mineral imbalance, loneliness, social isolation, low self esteem, shame and self disgust. Today's culture places great emphasis on outward thinness has grown in recent decades.

p to these images and feel the only way they can live life to it's fullest is to look like these icons. Even if someone is as at their perfect weight, it's easy to feel like a failure when comparing to a movie star or to Seventeen's cover girl. The line between fantasy and reality is skewed by mass media.

Pamela Anderson's contract for Baywatch strictly forbade her to gain weight. She had a fitness regimen, even during non-working months, "Anderson keeps to a rigorous program of a 25-mile mountain bike rides or one o two hour athletic walks, plus 50 lap pool swims or more strenuous ocean swims" (Zimmerman 126). Pamela Anderson isn't the only one with such a vigorous routine. Other stars have followed the trend too, "the Redbook article 'Take if off like a star' described Oprah Winfrey as having 'a maniac exercise routine' that includes two daily four mile runs, plus 45 minutes on the Stairmaster and 350 sit-ups. Bette Midler reportedly eats nothing but vegetables after 5:00pm. Demi Moore's workout 'stresses cross-training: road cycling, ocean and river kayaking, snowshoeing, hiking, skiing, plus daily weight lifting' she also has a live-in nutritionist/cook and a personal trainer" (Zimmerman 127). No one realistically is supposed to go to those lengths to keep themselves!

Hollywood makes people feel inadequate if our bodies aren't like the ones seen in moves. "Stars have personal trainers, stylists, make-up artists and people to airbrush the wrinkles and cellulite out of their magazine covers- all of whom create an image that is meant to be froz

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Approximate Word count = 2123
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)