So we have learned about motivation, such as hunger. Unfortunately, in our day and age, disorders such as bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa have evolved. Bulimia and anorexia first became a concept in the 1970's as more and more women started having it. The thing that upsets me so much about anorexia and bulimia is that it is believed that these disorders only evolved because of environmental pressures. Women are under so much pressure to be "the perfect size" which is often portrayed in movies and where women are unhealthily skinny. They constantly feel that in order to be considered "pretty" they must be "skinny." Statistics show that at least one in every three women struggles with her weight and body image. In the past, these struggles only existed among upper class western white females, but the disorder has now spread towards other ethnicities and races. The disorder has become more severe due to the fact that our society has changed and evolved as well. In the past, curvier women were considered "beautiful". Marylin Monroe, one of the most beautiful role models to so many women, was a size 14! However, due to the fact that she lived in the 50's, she was considered a beauty, including her size. Nowadays, a size 4 in the modeling world is considered plus-size and many women are forced to use unhealthy methods to reach this "perfect" size. Do you guys think that it is our "fault" that we have "created" this disorder? Could we perhaps have prevented it by making sure that our role models weren't these skinny binny women on the covers of our magazines but instead have curvy yet beautiful women such as Adele, Jordan Sparks(before she betrayed us and lost all that weight!) and Oprah? Do you think it will only get worse like it has until now?
I think that people should find out what weight makes them healthy, and stick with it. Obviously if we see someone a little overweight we shouldn't judge them based on their appearances. But they should lose weight so that they can remain healthy. I think our culture is less focused on health and more focused on beauty. If we lived in a society where people were concerned with health rather than beauty, these diseases wouldn't be so severe. It's okay to be a little "chubby" if you're still a healthy person.
ReplyDeleteIt saddens me that we live in a society that, although it greatly emphasizes individualism, causes people to have low self esteem. It would be wonderful if everyone could look in the mirror and say- "My nose is beautiful even though it is Jewish" or "Yes, my feet are a weird size for my body, but they are just feet."