Images of female bodies are everywhere. Women – and their body parts – sell everything from food to cars. Economics is a major reason as to why standards of beauty are being imposed on women. By presenting an ideal difficult to achieve and maintain the cosmetic and diet product industries are assured of growth and profits. When potential buyers, specifically women, see models on the bottles of diet pills with what has become known as the “perfect body” or flawless faces on the cover of cosmetic ads – obviously the product of extensive computer re – touching – women will spend thousands of dollars to buy these products in hopes of becoming just like the models who work for the companies which create the product.

For as long as civilization has existed, so too has passing judgment. We are trained as a society through multi – million dollar media companies, to believe that thinness, for example, is the ideal. Not only are we judged by the cover, but told what the cover should be – colour, size and shape. Unrealistic images of beauty have led to eating disorders in girls and women. Eating disorders, like anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating, are becoming increasingly prevalent throughout western countries. According to US estimates from The National Institute of Mental Health, between 5 per cent and 10 per cent of girls and women (i.e. 5-10 million people) and 1 million boys and men suffer from eating disorders, including anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, or other associated dietary conditions.[3] (For more facts about eating disorder, visit nedic.ca) These women flip open a magazine and see beautiful, sexy, thin girls grace them with their presence. What many fail to understand is these magazine images are unrealistic! They are doctored images that remove flaws, make thighs thinner or even skin lighter or darker to meet some prescribed ideal. Magazines rarely show unattractive or overweight people, unless it is an article entitled “10 Ways to Keep Yourself from Becoming like Them,” with a picture of an obese person beside the title. The editors only present what we have been convinced is beautiful. Women will live their lives drowning themselves in efforts to achieve this ideal without fully understanding that such female representations are non – existent. Recently, in the new campaign for Dove, entitled 'Campaign For Real Beauty", a main principal behind the campaign is to celebrate the natural physical bodies of all women and inspire them to have the confidence to be comfortable with them selves without the use of technology.

In the above commercial, it is quite evident that a “plain Jane” is transformed into the next supermodel. This young lady is enhanced and modified as to fit into this so – called world of feminine perfection. Airbrushed cosmetics, virtual hairstylists and computerized efforts to change weight truly re – create this simple beauty into something more profound and acceptable. For this reason, media truly distorts the truth and instills in women this false hope because, in essence, they will live their lives never truly attaining this ideal physical appearance.

 Next>>