There is truth to the claim that society is obsessed with being thin. The easiest way to support this claim is to look at the fashion world. In recent months, we’ve read news about models going very thin just to be on the runway or on some photo shoot. In the photographs or in the runways, they look fabulous, beautiful and young. What many of us don’t know is how they maintain a very unhealthy eating habit just to keep up their image. Some of these super-thin models have caused their bodies to surrender from lack of proper nourishment, and they’ve died young.
The recent deaths of these fashion models have highlighted society’s fascination with thinness. If the excessive body weight loss were not condoned by society, then models wouldn’t have been encouraged to look as thin as they could. This thinness obsession extends on the ordinary women through media. The impact of media on body image perception is high. Ordinary women would go on diets to look as thin as some celebrity or supermodel, thinking that they would achieve glamour and attract hordes of admirers by doing so.
While it may be true that obesity is becoming a bigger issue in the country, it does not justify society’s obsession with thinness. Women are not concerned about their body image because of health reasons. Rather, women want to be thinner because being beautiful and young means having a super slim body. Only a small number of women want to get thin because they understand the true value of having normal weights. To support this, a study published in May 2008 stated that dieting among men and women is the direct result of an unsatisfactory body image.
Meaning, some of the respondents are on diet not because they want to be healthier, but rather, they want to be thinner because they feel that it’s the only way to look better.
References
Millstein, R. A. , Carlson, S. A. , et al. (2008, May 19). Relationships Between Body Size Satisfaction and Weight Control Practices Among US Adults. The Medscape Journal of Medicine, Vol. 10, Issue Number 5: page 119. Nussbaum, E. (2007, February 18). The Incredible Shrinking Model. New York Fashion. Retrieved July 5, 2008, from http://nymag. com/fashion/07/spring/28149/