Thinspiration
Leave a commentApril 16, 2013 by Coastal CoEd
How much is the media to blame for insecurity among teenage girls in the United States? The answer is quite obvious. Magazines, television and film play a huge role and are, in fact, responsible for much of girls’ obsession with being thin.
According to The National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, almost 70% of girls in grades 5-12 said that magazines influence their ideas of a “perfect” body. If you flip through a magazine full of models, it would be very surprising to see a girl who does not look like she wears a size zero jeans and does not have an ounce of fat on her body. When buying clothes, we imagine the stick- thin model wearing the outfit, and from there we are insecure wearing those clothes.
We grow up watching movies and tv shows starring actresses who are also extremely thin. Jennifer Lawrence, the star of the hit movie The Hunger Games stated in an interview that she refused to lose weight for her role in the film: “ I don’t want a girl thinking, ‘I want to look like Katniss, I’m going to skip dinner tonight.’”Unfortunately, there are not many famous figures who follow this example. If there were, this fascination with a tiny figure would not be so apparent.
Although insecurity and eating disorders cannot be blamed 100% on the media, it is part of the problem. Instead of focusing on the actresses and models who are airbrushed to perfection and who are paid to lose the weight, we should focus on being content with ourselves and comfortable in our own skin. These famous figures are being paid millions to look like they do. It’s foolish (and unhealthy) to try to look like them, and it’s a better idea to focus our attention on role models such as Jennifer Lawrence.
Do not let the media affect you–inside or out.
Coastal Coed 