As time passes, so has the body image of a beautiful woman. In magazines and movies, advertisers and marketers have been pushing the idea that thin is beautiful. This desire for a thin and lean body now places a negative body image in the minds of young women. This thin image that is sought after in young women across the globe has been the cause of anorexia, depression, and surgical concerns. Young women need to see that they can be both healthy and feel beautiful without the unrealistic body they so desire.
The issue of undereating is both a problem physically as it is mentally. This can be seen from the many underweight woman in China. According to the essay written by Zhang, to be thin but not healthy, she goes on to explain how many young Chinese women are on diets causing them to be well below healthy on the body mass index scale. While thinness and malnutrition was seen as a sign of poverty, the widespread popularity of a slim body was desired all over the world. Zhang concluded that an astounding fifty-seven percent of young chinese woman wanted to lose weight and that thirty percent of these women were already underweight. This shows that over thirty percent of these will omen have a problematic thin ideal. The results from China may pose an even more serious threat than women in the United States. While this clearly is not healthy on a physical level, it is definitely not healthy for these women mentally. These young women are having an idealized body implanted into their minds that causes desire for beauty over healthfulness. This obsession among young women is due to the strong influence of advertisers and mass media in China.Talk about Family influence!!!
In Asian culture thinness is seen as beauty. Most of these already very thin women are encouraged to eat less and lose as much weight as possible. Some of these women are even encouraged by their mothers and sisters to lose weight. Another answer to the idolization of thin women in China could be due to female stars and their fashion. According to Zhang’s study, many of the women that were at a healthy weight were dissatisfied with their appearance. This shows a severe problem with these young women’s mental health. They are convincing themselves that a malnourished and underweight body is the healthy and ideal body to have. These women need to stop dieting unnecessarily, they can continue to exercise but really need to change the mindset on what is thought of beautiful and healthy.
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In fact, the general consensus of women believe a woman’s body should ideally be slim. According to Zhang Kaili, when another group of females were asked what the ideal female body should look like, almost all the women said thin and lean. Only eighty-seven percent cared about it being healthy. These numbers are astounding as almost every group of young women sampled think having a thin, lean body, to be most important. Health should be the number one factor when asked what the ideal body is for anyone. The fact that these women value looking like the unrealistic photoshopped women they see in magazines is scary. These women have a lot of mental confusion that is leading to physical problems. According to Zhang, over half of the same group of women surveyed avoided places like the beach and public pools. This is the most concerning as these women are not secure enough with themselves and bodies to begin with.
Furthermore they are seeking a physique that is not reachable and unrealistic for most of these women to remain in a healthy state. Zhang concluded that sixty-three of these women associated gaining weight with disapproval of their bodies. Data from Zhang’s study shows that a mere three women cared more about their bodies function and health rather than appearance. This clearly shows that most of these women are stuck in a negative depressed state in life. They can not be happy because they are not what they desire nor can they be what they desire. These young women also are very displeased when they gain any weight whatsoever. This is mentally unhealthy and needs to change. Marketers and advertisers need to shift the idea of beauty to a unique and healthy woman. A beautiful women needs to stop being objectified, what makes a woman beautiful is love for herself and body. There is no one specific body that is labeled but rather beauty is subjective. Not only have the women surveyed suffered physically but they have also suffered to a greater extent mentally. The most damaging cases are when young women decide to alter their body shape in order to achieve the unrealistic physique they desire.
According to Hanan the demand for cosmetic surgery is increasing rapidly. This is also due to trends such as celebrities and models showing off unrealistic bodies. To young women they see this as the norm and feel as though they are not beautiful or healthy. According to Hanan, out of the four hundred and fifty women surveyed there was a positive correlation between body image discrepancy and surgical concerns. Hanan also states how these finding were similar to previous research results which shows that this issue has been going on for quite some time. It is just the sad truth that some of these women are so unhappy with their body mentally that they do unfortunately resort to surgery. Due to these young women and their thin ideal internalization, a body image discrepancy is formed and then surgical thoughts and actions are taken because of it. The problem really does lie in social media. The media talks about the body one should have and not enough on appreciating the body one has already.Anorexia and eating disorder are also a very big issue. According Body Image of Women, this dieting is caused due to a negative self body image. These women striving for the perfect body will even go as far as to starve themself and eat as little as they possibly can to achieve the physique. Poor self esteem often contributes to problems in relationships and any area in life that requires confidence. Media images of ridiculously thin women are everywhere – television shows, movies, popular magazines.
The media often glamorizes a very thin body for women. Ultimately a negative body image can lead to unhappiness and depression both of which are also symptoms of low self-confidence. According to Body Image of Women, There are efforts being made to make marketers take responsibility for displaying pictures of men and women that are unrealistic, although it is a very hard battle to win. It is almost impossible to control the media because there is too much freedom given, it is up to the individual to know and appreciate self worth. Problems with ideal body image discrepancies are a very alarming topic today. From overeating, depression, and surgical concerns, women need to see that a thin body is not as ideal as the media makes it out to be. The ideal body should be one that is most healthy for the individual to function and provide the best opportunity. These women also need to understand that there is not one body image that is strictly beautiful as beauty is subjective and exists within any individual no matter what body type one has. In the end it completely in the individuals hands whether or not to what extent how troublesome the ideal body image is.
