It is a fact of life that most women cannot look like models or movie stars. The average model is taller and weighs 23 per cent, or almost a quarter, less than the average woman who is 5'4" and weighs 148 lbs.
Models spend a large percentage of their days engaged in activities that manipulate or shape their bodies, and photographs of models are almost always modified or enhanced in some way. Not even the models look like their fashion photographs.
Female models have been getting thinner and thinner over the past 100 years. A century ago, the ideal body shape for a woman was fleshy and full-figured. And while models are getting thinner, more women and younger girls are feeling unhappy about their own natural body shapes.
Many things contribute to how a woman feels about her body. Peer pressure, family history, education, stage of life, and ethnic, cultural and social status all play important roles in how people feel about how they look. The media can also influence body image.
We often think that being thin or slender brings health, happiness and success. However this is not necessarily true. The media plays a role in this perception, as it almost always ties success, acceptance and happiness with being thin and white.
It is a fact of life that most women cannot look like models or movie stars. The average model is taller and weighs 23 per cent, or almost a quarter, less than the average woman who is 5'4" and weighs 148 lbs.
Models spend a large percentage of their days engaged in activities that manipulate or shape their bodies, and photographs of models are almost always modified or enhanced in some way. Not even the models look like their fashion photographs.
Female models have been getting thinner and thinner over the past 100 years. A century ago, the ideal body shape for a woman was fleshy and full-figured. And while models are getting thinner, more women and younger girls are feeling unhappy about their own natural body shapes.
Many things contribute to how a woman feels about her body. Peer pressure, family history, education, stage of life, and ethnic, cultural and social status all play important roles in how people feel about how they look. The media can also influence body image.
We often think that being thin or slender brings health, happiness and success. However this is not necessarily true. The media plays a role in this perception, as it almost always ties success, acceptance and happiness with being thin and white.
Studies show that exposure to images of the beauty ideal increases dissatisfaction, depression and anger and lowers self-esteem in both women as well as men. When women are dissatisfied with their own bodies, pictures of ultra-thin, mostly white models in magazines, TV, etc., can reinforce those negative feelings. These images can make them feel worse about their size, the colour of their skin, or other physical features.
In Canada today, between 80 and 90 per cent of women and girls are unhappy with the way they look. This can lead to serious health problems such as:
It is important to remember the unreal ways women are shown in the media. This can help you to accept yourself and feel better about your body. Other strategies include:
Several magazines have started recently which include larger women models. As these publications become more successful, they put pressure on the mainstream media to change the ways they show women.
However, we still have a long way to go. There are still very few black women, women of colour, aboriginal women and disabled women working as models, actors, reporters, television anchor people, and other major roles in mainstream media. This can have long-term impacts on girls and women who see women in the media as their role models.
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