Re: Eating disorders prevention

Posted by JJ on March 01, 2005 at 02:53:14:

In Reply to: Eating disorders prevention posted by HSG on February 24, 2005 at 15:27:30:

Within the last thirty years, Hollywood and American society in general have done a superb job of making women feel that they are hideous, unsightly, and utterly revolting if they weigh more than 48 kg (120 lbs), or if they wear clothes any larger than a size zero. They praise women who deny their real figures and embrace the wicked philosophy, “thin is in.” This frame of mind is especially aimed at young teenage women, and is a major cause of depression, anorexia nervosa, and bulimia. Such sights of self starvation for the false god of “a fit figure” are nigh universal at most high schools. At my own, at which I am a student, I have witnessed for the last four years, girls, who once possessed delightfully large proportions, shrivel up into the physical (and mental) standards society has set for them. A fellow student I know who works at a Torrid store, who although possesses a wonderful plus size figure, still feels a ‘need’ to lose weight. As though this urge to be thin weren’t bad enough, I’ve watched girls at my school who were already quite thin turn in to veritable skeletons. A recent study showed that 70% of girls between the ages of 7 and 11 felt that they would look better and be more self-confidant if they were thinner. Doesn’t that figure (not to mention the age group) strike people as a precursor to a generation of severe depression and weight loss obsession? Let’s hope that the “narrow-minded” world begins to see things in a new light, and realize that that shy girl with a round midriff sitting in the corner is more beautiful than anything the Kate Mosses of the classroom can ever hope to be.