Every Woman is Beautiful the Way they Are.

    I am probably the worst one about this. I know that I sit at a relatively healthy weight for my height, even though according to Rush University Medical Center's website, for someone who is 5'3" I am suppose to weigh 104-127. This seems ridiculous to me. According to the BMI, I am slightly overweight. I am okay with this.

     This week in my English class we discussed eating disorders and how apparently fat has "become a feminist issue." No one associated being fat as a problem that men commonly have.
I argue this, mostly because I have seen many men who are worried about their health, or who are dieting, exercising, and just making healthier choices when it comes to their lifestyle. My dad is a great example. First he started exercising.. Then came the juicing, then the smoothies. I am not sure how much weight he has actually lost, but he looks great! He still says he wants to lose a couple more pounds, but who doesn't want to lose weight?
    For our second paper we are writing about "Building Awareness." I am righting about eating disorders in females and males, but with a focus on the media's role in eating disorders. I spent my Friday afternoon was spent watching a documentary found on Netflix called America the Beautiful. It interviewed different people that work in the media such as Seventeen Magazine Editor, US Weekly editor, and some famous fashion photographers.  It also followed a young girl. She was tall for her age and she didn't feel like she really fit in at school. Everyone called her giraffe, until one day when she was at the park, someone told her that she could be a model. Her mom supported this idea because she was a model herself when she was younger. At age 12, Gerren Taylor started modeling. This meant that she was missing precious education to model in NYC and LA for New York Fashion Week. While she had a pretty successful couple of years, it quickly went down hill. At 15, she was told that her hips were too big and she was "obese." At 6 ft tall, probably 120 lbs, sitting at a size 4, the super modeling business considered her obese.   Her school principal had a lot to say about the idea of her becoming a model. She made a comment about how crazy it was that they are now trying to make the perfect, ideal body to be that of a 12 year old. "We are so focused on a beauty that is unattainable. It is so unhealthy and destructive."
    This disgusted me. They are telling kids that they are too fat. All of these media ads and fashion weeks are telling every average person that they are not pretty enough and not skinny enough. Models as young as 15 reported thinking about getting breast enhancement or enlargement.
     There was a study done in Fiji in 1995-1999. It was a very traditional culture in a way that if they were bigger, it meant the village was well taken care of. Being fat was beautiful. In 1995, 3% of the teenage girl population in one area said they had ever in their life induced vomiting as a way to control their weight.
     In 1995, the researchers introduced television to the area. Three short years later, in 1998, researchers went back to this area to talk to the girls. 15% of girls around age 17 had said that they had induced vomiting to control their weight. Many of them made comments like "I am heavy and I often feel depressed because of this." or "I really want to lose weight."
    In three short years, television had taken a country where big is beautiful and they were all proud of their bodies, to a place where everyone was dieting and trying to be skinny.
    Television has been available for the home since the late 1920's. Imagine what television has done to our country in the last 80-90 years.
    The United States holds approximately 5% of the worlds population. In 2012, the Census recorded about 313.9 million people. The world population was estimated to exceed 7 billion in March of 2012.  That being said, the United States sees 40% of the worlds advertisements. All of these advertisements tell little girls and teenagers how they are suppose to look. When fashion trends change, so do advertisements. Michael Levine, a Hollywood publicist, was interviewed in America The Beautiful and said, "Victoria Secrets has saturated the perfect. It has diminished the ability to love the ordinarily beautiful." The Seventeen magazine editor said, "I am not running a non profit organization. It is about profit. I print what sells."
    One study done reported that girls as young as 5 were dieting. It also showed that they were more worried about getting fat than they were about getting cancer or losing a parent.

     All of this information made me question, "Is America really this superficial?" How can we be so focused on our weight that things like our health and family don't matter anymore. One mom that had lost her daughter to an eating disorder said, "Mom's are perfect in a kids eyes. So when kids hear their mom say they hate a certain part of their body, kids quickly realize that they have the same body as their mom's do. This causes them to hate that part of their body at a young age"

     I know this is a lot of facts, and it is a little overwhelming, but when I woke up this morning, and I looked in the mirror in the bathroom. I did my daily routine of pulling my shirt up and looking at my stomach in the mirror, but I didn't feel fat anymore. I know that I still need to get in better shape and lose a couple pounds for the military standards, but it wasn't overwhelming to the point of me thinking "I am so fat."
    One of my pinterest motivation pins says, "You are not fat. You have fat. You're weight does not define you." Marilyn Monroe said, "To all of you girls who think you're fat because you're not a size zero. You're the beautiful ones, it's society who's ugly."
     This gave me a lot of motivation to love who I am for me, not for what I look like. Sure, dressing up with make-up and your hair done is fun and looks good, but it shouldn't be a necessity for you to think you are beautiful.

You, whoever is reading this. You are beautiful. Society is UGLY and corrupt. 

If you are struggling with an eating disorder, or need help, find the help you need. Trust in a friend, a doctor, but most importantly, if you have them, your mother. I know mine would be there for me if I ever need her to and I am sure yours will too if you call and tell her that you are struggling. Please, get the help that you need because you are beautiful and you deserve better for yourself.