Everyone is unique, and has their own qualities that makes them beautiful. We live in a media-driven society that promotes a false equivalence that happiness is achieved through thinness.  This causes many young women to feel that they must improve their appearance to be beautiful and happy. Women are too often judged by their looks, resulting in many women, especially young girls, having low self-esteem based on what the media has concluded is the ideal modern woman. Having self-esteem is confidence in one’s own worth, and if a person lacks this, it can cause major damage to their ability to function normally and perform even the simplest of tasks. Unfortunately, as the media and advertising have increasingly portrayed celebrities and products on overly-thin women, the prevalence of low self-esteem and body dissatisfaction has risen overwhelmingly. Everyone should feel beautiful in their own skin and also unafraid to seek help when they experience negative emotions towards food and their weight, for the young women in America today are suffering from this un-addressed problem.

  The past two decades has seen a devastating increase in eating disorders.  Current statistics are that 7 million girls in America have one, and of that 7 million, 90% of them are between ages 12-25.  An eating disorder can be defined as extreme emotions, attitudes and behaviors surrounding weight and food issues, and can result in unhealthy efforts to reduce one’s food intake. Having an eating disorder can lead to sever health problems, like organ damage, mental instability and sometimes even death. Every 62 minutes someone dies from an eating disorder (Hope). When some young women view distorted images portrayed by the media, many wish they could obtain the celebrities’ or models’ looks, so they begin trying to change themselves into what society constructs as beautiful. Trying to achieve what the media shows as true beauty is an unrealistic goal that leads many to develop an eating disorder. The media portrays images of what they feel a beautiful woman should look like, causing many young girls to view their body image negatively, leading to body dissatisfaction. With the recent increase in eating disorders among young girls in America, the media and celebrities should portray more realistic body images, while changing the attitude of “happiness is driven through thinness”, to lower the prevalence of eating disorders. 

When advertising and media first began, it was evident the power it had on creating appearance trends that people would follow. Even before the internet and social media, print advertising showed that women are lured into following tips for dieting and beauty, trying to obtain the look society idealized as beautiful. As described in the Huffington Post: It’s Amazing How Much The ‘Perfect Body’ Has Changed in 100 Years by Nina Bahadur, “models and movie stars are getting smaller than the average American woman at unprecedented rates”. As history shows, not too many years ago, it was a sign of wealth to be overweight, and if one was overly-thin it was a sign of poverty. Eventually, as industrialization took place and various forms of media became more easily accessible, the first ideal body image was in the 1900’s as “Gibson Girl”. Bahadur describes the “Gibson Girl” as having bigger hips, and bust, with a very small waist that, “came to epitomize the ideal feminine beauty.” Later, appearance began to mirror events in society, as “The Flapper” look reflected women rebelling against social norms as the roar of wealth, prosperity and festivities captivated big cities. Women began to be seen merely as sex symbols and prized solely for their bodies.  In the 1950’s, the ideal woman was portrayed short-haired with a fuller, curvier body, like Marilyn Monroe, which was a look highly flaunted by men (Bahadur). As other women observed the special treatment these women were receiving from men, they began to idolize and follow these media-driven trends. However, the ideal figure soon changed in 1966 when Twiggy emerged as the first ultra-thin model.  This set the stage for the present-day standard for the modeling industry and ideal body figure for young women. Women admired everything the media promoted as how a woman should look, as they sought to get the same attention shown to ultra-thin women. In a live interview and biography of Twiggy, she claimed, “I was a very, very skinny model in the 60’s, but naturally.” However, despite her claim that she was just being herself, many people blamed her for the start of eating disorders in young women. She also started the trend of “false eyelashes, and painted on eyelashes”, which was not necessarily a bad thing, but many also blame her for the start of an overly-thin model industry that continues to become thinner and thinner. Twiggy claims that she never engaged in bad eating habits, like models today may claim, but that she was just naturally skinny. In the 2000’s, the look for Victoria Secret models began to evolve into what Adriana Lima characterizes as “big breasts, flowing hair, and toned, extremely thin bodies” (Bahadur). 

Women continue to watch more and more fashion shows on television every year, even though they often suffer from low self-esteem afterwards. Viewing the models as overly-healthy and happy, and suffering from no illness, is how the media and advertising promote these models’. Many young women may become obsessed with trying to obtain the figures that the media showcases as beautiful, which the media portrays as thin, as fashion shows do not show average- sized or plus-sized models very often. This can have huge negative effects on young women who shop at the stores that only showcase their clothes on unrealistic models. Even as the ideal figure has changed throughout history, it has been said that the ultra-thin look has stayed the longest, and continues to become thinner, without anyone really noticing.

 Young women read magazines, watch TV shows, and see beautiful women showcased throughout the web, on a daily basis. Girls are surrounded by articles for “How to Look Like…”, a certain model or celebrity daily, and that to be beautiful you must follow their diets and workouts. The media should understand their power, and focus their advertisements on a more positive and realistic goal for young women, to help their self-esteem and views on body imaging.  Throughout history, advertisers and the media have staged their products on perfect-skinned, ultra-thin women, in hopes that viewers will believe their products will make them look perfect as well. Women thus become obsessed with trying to look like these women, disregarding the product itself. In Ronald Bishop’s, The Pursuit of Perfection: A Narrative Analysis of How Women's Magazines Cover Eating Disorders, Bishop claims that producers for the media use their power to make girls believe they must diet and workout to look like a happy model, instead of using their power to show the damaging effects of eating disorders. Rather than using their power to uplift women, magazines still devote their pages to ways to improve one’s body; “Since 1980, when eating disorders pushed their way into the public’s eye, women’s magazines have published 47 feature articles on eating disorders- a small percentage of the feature articles run in these magazines in the last two decades” (Bishop). As it is portrayed in the media, everyone should follow the societal norms, by always dieting and setting unrealistic body goals. This can be very unhealthy as women will engage in many unhealthy practices to attempt to obtain the impractical goals the media sets out. Bishop claims that, if a writer or producer runs a story on a woman who has suffered from an eating disorder they, “paint the girl as selfish, and the problem was self-inflicted,” rather than showcasing multiple attributes she had that evolved into the eating disorder (Bishop). This treatment by the media of women having eating disorders as being abnormal just exacerbates the problem even more as these women feel they are not what they should be. They then may try even harder to not be seen as having a problem or disorder, and have society view them as effortlessly beautiful, like the media portrays women, and this just compounds the problem. Bishop further explains that media should use their power to help women feel they are not alone, and that the women portrayed in advertisements and the media, are edited and glamorized, and are not realistic. Agreeing with the notion presented by Bishop, Courtney Howard describes in, “Does Social Media Cause Eating Disorders in Children?”, that the media is the contributing factor for the increase in eating disorders, and that social media and pro-eating disorder websites are the biggest contributors to the increase in eating disorders. With the increase in social media consumption, such as Instagram and Facebook, women are able to view in even greater detail the glamorized and unrealistic lifestyles of models and celebrities, which can have a serious impact on their efforts to obtain the perfect female figure and their unrealistic expectation that to do this is effortless. Although social media was created as a way for people to connect with friends, the power behind constantly seeing “pop up” advertisements, and celebrities with the ideal body who seem to do very little to obtain and maintain that body, can create physical dissatisfaction in young women. In a study from the University of Haifa, “young women from the ages of 12 to 19 were found that more exposure to social media contributed to higher rates of eating disorders and related concerns” (Howard). 

Today, almost everyone has unlimited easy access to the internet and are able to browse the web 24/7 constantly exposed to, or may unintentionally run across, targeted advertisements about pro-eating disorder websites. Pro-eating disorder websites are known for showing photos of very thin women and labelling them as “thinspiration”, tricking their young woman readers into thinking they have gained weight and that they should look like the women in the pictures (Howard). These websites promote and encourage women to treat their eating disorder, as a “lifestyle” instead of a problem. The websites have been constantly brought to the mainstream media’s attention, due mostly to the efforts to have them terminated.  However, more websites have sprung up to replace the ones shut down. These pro-eating disorder websites promote unhealthy tips, diets and exercise routines, and post photos of models to “inspire” others. Some of these pro-eating disorder websites are set up as “blogs,” disguising their message as if it were personal accounts or real, live people. This can have a powerful effect on readers who do suffer from an eating disorder by making them feel as if they are not alone.  Reading what appears to be a blog from another girl who seems just like the reader, who suffers from low self-esteem, and are talking as if they were in a personal conversation with the reader.  Although Howard claims that, “most of these sites claim to not promote eating disorders or encourage related behaviors,” it is understood that they are using their power to set standards women should look like, and makes the illness seem like a trend rather than an issue. 

With more sophisticated “tracking” internet users, it is very common for readers to be presented with articles and advertisements on related topics, like dieting, when one may not even be searching for those. The media uses this tracking and targeted advertising power to promote their sponsors’ products, which often present distorted images of women, tricking their costumers into thinking their products will make them look like the model. Constantly seeing the same-sized woman displayed through the media has a great impact on what women think their bodies should look like. The media should instead use their power of persuasion to promote various sized women and talk more about positive body self-image, instead of always promoting dieting and how to change one’s appearance to conform to the models and celebrities the media believes every woman should look like.

Women rely on other women’s opinions just as much, or even more so, than they would men’s opinions. Women often feel a sense of happiness and acceptance when they are with other women who think and feel as they do. Feeling alone, and vulnerable is one of the main signs of an eating disorder, and feeling they are not what society considers normal is another. This helps explain why pro-eating disorder websites are so popular, as they provide a sense of community and a place where you can read about other people like yourself, with similar problems and complaints. Although these communities can promote unhealthy behaviors and can encourage women to feel their illness is a glamorized trend and not a serious problem that requires attention, they are still popular for the sense of community. In Emese Csipke’s, Pro-Eating Disorder Websites: Users' Opinions, Csipke propose that pro-eating disorder websites are a good thing for those with the illness, and the removal of them would cause greater harm than good because women with eating disorders need to communicate with others and not feel alone. He believes that these websites do not promote eating disorders because the users who read these blogs, already have the condition. While that may be true in some cases, it can also be understood that women may stumble upon the websites, or be encouraged by friends to view them. Csipkes claims that these websites create a community for those with an eating disorder, and the removal of them would leave the user feeling vulnerable and friendless and may cause the problem to get worse. You can certainly understand the argument that talking with or reading about other women suffering the same issues can be a positive point and that removing these websites may have a negative effect.  However, you can couple that with the position that these websites need to be modified. to promote healthier choices and steered toward more helpful discussions, topics and articles.  Instead of removing the websites completely, internet-service providers, like Yahoo, who got blamed for the websites, should turn them around and use them as an access point to resources geared to recovery. Csipke wrote this article in 2007, he possibly believed that by not touching the websites would result in them eventually disappearing on their own. This can be proven wrong, as the prevalence of pro-eating disorder websites have seen a drastic increase throughout the years, despite constant efforts to end them. Csipke claims, “most of the pro-eating disorder websites have labels saying ‘Do not enter if you do not have an eating disorder ‘prevents those without the illness from straying away” as this provokes their curiosity. If a young woman stumbles across a website, they may feel curious and want to see what this separate community of young women feel. Although agreeing with Csipke that the complete disappearance of the pro-eating disorder websites will leave women feeling alone and vulnerable, there still should be rules and regulations implemented for them to act as a recovery community. These websites could be of great use to help stop the spread and severity of eating disorders, as they can be used as a safe place for women to chat about new positive behaviors instead. Pro-eating disorder websites can certainly be very harmful, as they have many disturbing ideas and activities women with eating disorders engage in, so they should be taken more seriously and modified so they help end the suffering of young women.  

 Not all women are as happy and self-content as they may express to others. Celebrities and people who have publicity, may sometimes hide their true emotions to the world, especially if they know it will give them negative attention. Celebrities have always been followed by the media and paparazzi, however celebrities today may never know when their photos will be displayed in the magazine of the week, or online for the whole world to see instantly. Although many celebrities are able to employ personal trainers and nutritionists to help balance their health, they are still under enormous pressure to always look a certain way in the media. This pressure to always look like they have an effortlessly perfect body image, has driven some into developing anxiety issues that result in an eating disorder. Actress and singer, Demi Lovato, is just one such high-profile celebrity.  She has become very public about her struggles dealing with an eating disorder. Lovato claims during a live interview with ABC News, that she never felt low self-esteem until she entered the media industry, where she was always being reminded that she does not look like other women. Lovato explains that her eating disorder began to get so out of control, and her depression so profound, that she was eventually checked into the hospital and then sent to rehab. In her live interview, Lovato explains that she felt alone, and not good enough compared to the models and other famous women, “for not being a size 0” (Lovato). This is just one example of how the pressure to look a certain way, even though not everyone is built the same way, can drive someone into unhealthy behaviors like bulimia and anorexia. Lovato has lashed out at other celebrities who also suffer from eating disorders, but who try to glamorize their problem and make it seem acceptable to behave as they do. Most recently, Lovato spoke about Lada Gaga, who told the media and her fans that she sometimes has unhealthy habits, like purging and regurgitating and goes on to state that this behavior is somehow acceptable. Lada Gaga explained that with the busy career she has, she has no time to work out, but that the media will “obliterate” her if she is seen with the “slightest flaw” (Gaga). This is a prime example of how the media pushes for celebrities into engaging in eating disorders, and even helping to glamorize the illness, by seeing it as a trend. In Lovato’s song “Skyscraper”, she is open about her recovery and explains she is, “rising from the ground, like a skyscraper” hoping that her fans will hear the message and do the same (Lovato). 

Feeling the same pressures as celebrities, or even more, models in present day fashion industries are, according to the National Eating Disorders Association, 5”11’ and weigh 117 pounds (Smolak L), while the average women is 5”4’ and weighs 140 pounds.  Further, most fashion models are thinner than 98% of American women (Smolak L). The fashion industry has become increasingly competitive, and models are asked to be as thin as possible. According to the Model Alliance: Giving a Voice to the Faces of the Fashion Industry, an anonymous survey was sent out and discovered that 64.1% of models have been asked to lose weight by their modeling agency. This startling news can help explain why models engage in eating disorder behaviors.  Look at the case of model, Sammi Kearsey, who committed suicide after struggling with an ongoing eating disorder. Robin Jenkins’ interviewed Kearsey’s friends and family members in his article, “Beauty Queen and Model Found Hanged in Park After Battling Eating Disorder and Depression.” Jenkins reveals the thoughts and attitudes from Sammi Kearsey’s family, as they could see their loved one, “wither away after she decided to join the modeling industry” (Jenkins). Being body-shamed, and forced to compete for an ideal thinness within the modeling world, is how Kearsey’s family described the present day industry (Jenkins).  As the media pushes people in the industry to look an unrealistic way, models turn to unhealthy ways to achieve this unrealistic figure. However, the alarming part of this story is that these models are presented to the public as healthy and happy, and problem-free, which makes women who are not a part of the industry believe they must look like them as well. Sammi Kearsey is one example of many, of someone in a media-driven industry feeling they do not possess enough self-worth and cannot achieve this socially-constructed body the media has created. More often than not, women of average size, who try to enter the fashion or media-driven world, are shamed and driven out because of their looks. Instead of being respected for their other qualities they are only ridiculed for their appearance. Lovato was able to recover from her eating disorder, and has used her celebrity status to try to raise awareness of the issue.  However, unfortunately, too many young women are like Sammi Kearsey and end tragically. The pressures the media puts on people in the celebrity and fashion industries are worsening, and this issue needs to be addressed more effectively so more young women don’t end up like Sammi Kearsey and many others. 

The media provides society with a very valuable service, the distribution of information and news.  Mass communication can bring cohesion to the world. The media is a great way to make our world seem that much smaller and more connected, and has been very beneficial, like at times of war. but, even though media has many beneficial attributes, it can also cause problems.  People can certainly use the media’s power to its full potential and reap personal benefits from it. Monitoring the media is difficult, as we are unable to track all its uses, and this can cause extreme and possibly unintended consequences to people. Trevor Jackson is a journalist and movie producer who expresses his thoughts, and the thoughts of other interviewed journalists in his, “Press: Under Cover” about the issue of media and its influence on eating disorders. He believes that if this were a huge problem, people would take notice, and publishers and journalists would make this issue a news headline, because it would be something that would be of great importance and one that society would have a great interest in. Agenda-setting is a term used by big media companies to describe the notion that if society feels something is an issue, then the media will talk about it more and use it to make a profit. Jackson and his fellow journalists claim they rarely see or hear of eating disorder activists, and if they did, they would be the first to uncover the truth of the disease (Jackson). While this may be true for some journalists, it cannot be assumed that every media outlet has the same experience. Jackson claims that the media and magazines do not cause eating disorders, and that these disorders have their roots in mental problems and deeper issues The media producers and journalists agree that people who suffer from eating disorders are mostly suffering from some other mental instability issue, but they believe that these issues are not caused or promoted in any way by their media outlet (Jackson). While it can be argued that an eating disorder has a psychological rooting, it can also be said that the media plays on the victim’s brain, thus resulting in a worsening of the condition. The argument the mainstream media producers use to bolster their side on the topic is that there are many cases of individuals who do not read fashion magazines, and do not engage in a lot of media, but who suffer from an eating disorder. As this may be true in some cases, it is also proven through experiments, and shown in data, that engaging in a lot of media, can cause lower self-esteem and body dissatisfaction, and these are factors that contribute to the onset and perpetuation of eating disorder behavior. But, as Jackson claims, there are many tragic cases of young women who have suffered from an eating disorder as a result of a different reason.  In particular, there are many cases where an eating disorder can be traced to mental, physical and sexual abuse. He asserts that showing women images of “how they should look” has no significant effect on hardly anyone. Jackson also claims that even the “How to Guides” in magazines, are written with, “a good laugh” as mainstream media produces believe that most women don’t really take these articles all that seriously since they know they are modified and aren’t the actual celebrities’ true dietary plans. Coming from a male’s point of view, you can understand why Jackson undermines what women truly believe, as he may not quite understand the pressures felt by young females, when viewing very thin models in bathing suits. Women are confronted with very different pressures than men, and are also commonly judged by their looks, which is possibly why Jackson can’t quite grasp that women might view magazine articles of highlighted beautiful women seriously and not just as “jokes” or make-believe stories. If Jackson, and other alike producers, could understand how women truly feel, maybe the new trend in media would be for one to have positive psychological state on mind, instead of a physical, unrealistic goal, that achieves nothing constructive, rather only destructive attitudes. 

A quote by Bobbi Brown, “How I feel about myself is more important than how I look. Feeling confident, being comfortable in your skin — that’s what really makes you beautiful,” should be issued to every mass media website or magazine as a positive message and perspective women should embrace and promote. With the increase in eating disorders in recent years, and the severe impact they have on young women, the problem should be addressed more than it is currently.  The media should implement realistic, and varied body images that truly depict how women in society look. With depression rates rising in young women, and the deaths associated with these disorders rising, people should take action and address the problem, to try to end suffering among women, especially younger women and girls. Eating disorders can often go unnoticed until it is too late.  It is critical that the media distorting photos and promoting what is socially-constructed as today’s ideal of female beauty, realize the impact they have. If this phenomenon continues to increase, it can cause so many problems, as more and more families are losing their loved ones because they feel they can not good enough for what society considers normal and attractive. Once again, every 62 minutes someone dies from an eating disorder; we are losing the strong and intelligent young women of America who should be judged by their qualities, not their appearance. If media can begin promoting various body figures, and focusing on a positive psychological state of mind for women, instead of always focusing on being thin and dieting, maybe we will be able to end these tragic cases. If the media can somehow realize that discussing eating disorders is good and news-worthy, then maybe women will begin to seek help without feeling like an outsider. Then as a society we can answer and help the victims, and maybe together we can end this cycle of devastating eating disorders among young women. 
