Final Feature Broadcast

Blog #12: In My Humble Opinion

In 2008 The Spartan Daily published an article titled "We're all so hungry to be thin". The article, in light of Respect Your Body Week, observes the social and cultural pressure to be be thin. The author proceeds to discuss the media and how it glamorizes the beauty of being thin, while also scrutinizing those who fail to meet their standard of perfected thinness.

According to the article, 5 to 10 million girls and women and an estimated 1 million men in the United States struggle with an eating disorder. Given that this article was published two years ago, it is possible that numbers have since increased.

Magazines and other forms of media only fuel these self-destructive behaviors. While the media attempts to persuade society that beauty is found in every body shape, their true underlying message is that in order to be beautiful you must fit the stereotypical image of "slendered" beauty.

This article effectively examines the issues surrounding society's enless pursuit of beauty. The emphasis that the media places on the importance of beauty will eventually result in irreversable consequences.

We are already witnessing the undeniable repercussions of this surreal image of beauty. Women and men alike are going to extreme measures to meet the media's depiction of beauty.

There are individuals who go to extremes to be beautifully thin. Some develop eating disorders either unintentionally or intentinionally to fit this cultural standard. Bulemia, anorexia and excessive exercise or dieting are slowly becoming a hightened concern.

Some undergo cosmetic surgery and permanently alter their physical appearance. Some go even further and receive multiple alterations. Look at Heidi Montag-Pratt who received 10 proceedures in one day, in addition to the previous proceedures she already had. Montag-Pratt, who is only 23, has become obsessed with her appearance and is willing to ehance it at any cost. She no longer looks real.

While we might not go to such extremes to be beautiful and thin, most of us are guilty of falling victim to the media and questioning and judging our own appearance. It becomes increasingly difficult to accept ourselves and the body we were given when the media is constantly emphasizing not only the importance of being beautiful, but the ways in which we could improve our self-worth by fitting their mold.