let's chew the fat...

"DROP TWO SIZES!" "HOT BODY FAST!""BEACH BODY NOW!" "Slim Body, Fat Wallet"

These are just some of the articles found in Women's Health magazine. The focus is on body image, and Women's Health magazine isn't the only one who does that. People magazine writes an article on the 50 most amazing bodies of celebrities, showing pictures of unrealistically skinny women in bathing suits. Why is the media obsessed with  portraying women as being tall and skinny? None of the models used for advertisements are of a normal or average weight. The media provides an image of what a woman's body should look like, in one word, perfect. An image that is out of reach.  Most of the time the pictures of women have been airbrushed or edited on a computer. However, this image makes many women and girls feel the need to look like the these women. Look at Barbie, even she has a perfect, but near impossible body. The culture of today has created an out of reach perception of body image which leads to eating disorders in women. This pressure of body image forces women and girls to obsess over their looks. Every where you look there is an article for how to lose weight or flat abs in 15 minute.  Women compare themselves to what the media depicts as "normal" , and because of this 75% of women at a  healthy weight believe they are overweight (Body Image and Advertising). Why is there such a focus on what women look like?