Body Image in Todays Society

We are human. It is instinct that we live by one rule: Survival of the fittest: literally. When we are shown in magazines and television ads that being skinny is close to being perfect, we conform. It becomes a mindset, and inevitably accepted as a social norm. A social norm is a behavior that is expected of a person in a certain situation or in a particular society. People want to fit in to stay at the top of the social pyramid. Some of these social norms are extremely dangerous to ones' health and mentality. They can affect self esteem, the way a person perceives themselves and others, which often time, more than not, cause eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia.

The article "Examining the Presence and Consequences of Feeling Discrepant from Personal and Social Norms Related to Thinness in American and British High School Girls" published in the Journal of Social & Clinical Psychology, talks about how "people heavily rely on social norms to understand what is accepted in their specific groups" (Darren 996). For example, and from personal experience, I'm a subscriber to SEVENTEEN MAGAZINE. The Magazine gives social tips about standing out in the crowd, sex tips, and gossip. Most of all it is known for its fashion expertise. When looking through the articles all I see are skinny, half naked models wearing table cloths. As a full figured person, I think to myself about how I wish I could look more like them. I plan it out: my diet, and an exercise regimen. Luckily, I am reminded by looking in the mirror that I like where I am. I like what I see. I know that I am beautiful. I might not be able to fit in to a size two, but my body is beautiful. When looking through the magazine and seeing that every one of the models is skinny it is stating a social norm: skinny is the new black.

In the article it also explains that "those who deviate from such norms often experience negative consequences" (Darren 998). A good example of these negative consequences can be seen on a lot of television shows and movies nowadays. ABC Family created a show about people who don't exactly "fit in" called HUGE. The cast focuses on seven heavy set teenagers who are sent off to fat camp to delve deep inside of what they see in the mirror to find who they really are. The neighboring tennis camp and their camp share a patch of woods that the teens use to escape from their daily exercises. One day the teens from both camps accidentally end up in the same part of the woods at the same time and automatically the skinnier, more athletic people start making fun of the kids from the fat camp. No one wants to be put in this situation, so gives women a cause to change their ideal body image. They don't want to be separated from the pack because they don't fit in so they mold themselves.

The article goes on to explain that the "widespread emphasis on thinness in women in the media" and how it "leads girls to both see extreme thinness as more accepted and normative than it actually is" (Darren 999). People who suffer from eating disorders aren't satisfied a lot of the time because they want to live up to everyone else's standards, and in their minds everyone sees weight as the skinnier, the better.

Social molds/norms and media are just the beginning of the eating disorders. But there are also other causes that are a little closer to a girl than a magazine,