Monday, April 16, 2007

Eating Disorders to better Society's Ideal Body Image








In today's society are young girls and women obsessed with their body image?
Do you feel there is too much pressure on women to become model thin?

Are you aware of websites offering advice on how to become anorexic or bulimic?
http://www.ceruleanbutterfly.com/


  • Do you think this is a growing problem in young girls? Why or Why not?
  • Do you feel the media is to blame-showing advertisements or commercials of thin models and celebrities?
  • Why do you think young girls and women want to be thin?
  • Do young girls or women think we have to be thin, in order to be considered beautiful?
  • Should there be more supportive websites to encourage healthy body image?
  • Are there too many commercials and advertisments on weight loss programs and pills?
  • Are you aware that Dove has a new commercial supporting less than perfect women (not model thin, but average)?
  • Are young girls developing eating disorders to stay thin?
  • Who placed the so called requirements of what size is the perfect body image?
  • What do you think is the ideal body image? Why?
  • Do you think Marilyn Monroe/Anna Nicole Smith had the ideal body image (size 14)?
  • Should there be more preventative action on eating disorders? More support groups, advertisments, counseling at the schools and colleges?
Thanks, Cheri Adkins




16 comments:

English student said...

I do think that eating disorders are a big problem in the world today. I am a person who is over weight and i do feel the need to becomse smaller and have abs and just be good looking. I dont think it is because of what i see on tv but my brain could just be telling me that. With other people it sets in their mind differently and the feel the need to look like a model and be a size 0, 1, 2, 3 or even 4. I mean yeah who doesnt want to have a fit good looking body so that they can impress the guy or the girl they like, but when we see the dieting and exercising is not working we turn to things like bulimic and anorexic. For young girls who want to be in the spotlight when it comes to being models and video girls the pressure is really on because most the time if your over a size 10 then your considered plus size. I wear men clothing alot but in women i would say i wear about a 16-18 in womens jeans so what type of model would i be.

Destini Reed

English student said...

Now a days in our society becoming thin and having a slim body is a big problem in not only females but males also. When people watch t.v. they see all these actress and models really thin. Most people feel that since they are thin they are happy, thats not always the case though. It really effects Jr. High Students all the way up to middle age people. The think reality is be fit is to be slim and wear really small and tight on their bodies. The fact of being really tiny can hurt your body, most people don't care about how they are hurting their bodies but if they can fit in a size 0.
Jennifer J

English student said...

I do believe there is too much pressure on women to become thin. Commercials, celebrities, everyday people make being super thin at their priority list. Even music makes references of women being thin and also being objects instead of human beings. I was not aware of the wesites offering advice on how to become anorexic or bulimic, now that i know i'm horrified. It's insanity. All the health issues that come with those diorders are worse then being a little over weight. With bulimia the enamel gets stripped away from your teeth due to the excess vomiting. With anorexia the malnutrion and weakening and decaying of the bones.All the side effects aren't worth being thin. This is a growing problem in women and the age is getting lower and lower. Advertisements i feel are a major part in these diorders becoming more and more popular, but i also feel a low self esteem is also to blame. I believe there should be more websites and classes to build self esteem in women and men. Men also struggle with weight problems. The norm is that people won't find someone to spend their life with if they aren't perfect. This belief is supported by everyday images on t.v. and lyrics in songs. I also believe there should be more counseling in schools and colleges because if happens to each sex and of all ages.
Kahla Ryder

English student said...

Eating disorders are a big problem in this country. People think that the only way that they can be famous is if they are skinny. Some people take it way to far and dont eat for weeks. It gets to a point that there is no extra fat on their bones and they can hardly make it through the day. This will hurt people in the long run and decrease they life time. This problem is more common in women than men because men dont care if they put on a few extra pounds.

Phillip Poppe

English student said...

I dont think eating disorders is a real problem now a days. I havent heard of a lot of people with an eating disorder. Some people may just want to loose weight and watch what they eat. But it is a such thing as not eating also and getting to small.

Stephen Simmons

English student said...

I do believe that eating disorders is a big epidemic that is going on in our country. Young women are seeing these movie stars shrinking away to nothing and they are living a the party life and getting all the hott guys they want. When they see these movies stars living these lives they think that if they are skinny then they will be attractive and be invited to the cool parties. In my old high school they were a handful of girls that had some eating disorders. They hid it very well and some just said they were on a diet just for a few weeks just to look good for homecoming or prom. In fact they turned out to be on very strict diets for a long time, over exercising, or they were bulimic or anorexia. The really sad part about all of this is that I notice lots of girls are being pressure by their moms to be skinny. I know this girl that went to my highschool and was on a very strict diet and exercising like crazy because her mom was telling her she was too fat. Her mom wanted her to be the perfect teenager. She was a cheerleader, in NHS, and of course was invited to "right" parties. The really sad part about this her moms a teacher!!! Another girl's mom kept telling her daughter she should go running everytime she got done eating dinner because she may have eating to much calories. These girls were beautiful, smart, and had amazing bodies already yet they had all these pressure from there moms. Then they are the other girls who sees these girls that are skinny and of course in highschool everybody wants to be better than everybody and then they go on a diet. It's a big domino effect. I also read on the internet that a girl that wears a size 10 is considered plus sized!!! That is crazy!!!! I don't understand who says a person is plus sized!!! I think there should be more counseling in schools over eating disorders and adults and teachers should open their eyes more and really see whats going on in their schools.

Elizabeth Martinez

English student said...

There is a huge problem these days with healthy body images. People have it set in there minds that the ideal body type is that of the toothpick skinny models shown on the runways of todays fashion shows. It is insane that if you are at all larger than a size 5 then you are considered a "plus-size" model. Why is it that we put that strain on people. I applaud the courageous woman who makje a living as a plus-size model. They are living in a society that says that they are beautiful, but they are fat. Do people not realize that we are in a society that is now saying that Tyra Banks is fat. How insane and utterly unfathomable is that. We are giving young girls the wrong impression. My little sister just turned 16 and is the most ripped person i know. She has a six pack and has 12% body fat, but she went to a store and the jeans there were sized so tiny that she had to buy a size 5 jean when in reality she is a 1/2. She knows that she is small but she questioned that when she tried them on. She alomst did not even buy them because they were 5. It is not right that people are putting this image of "perfection" in young girls heads, this is causing them to have unhealthy body images and it is not right.
Michaela Kern (12:00)

English student said...

i feel thatthere is WAY to much pressure on women today to be a size 0 or 2. i think is sick that there are websites that offer advice on how to be a good anorexic it's one thing to try and help people it's othe to help them do it right.i hate that every day you see all of these actess that are so small and that there are models that are told they are fat if they are a size four.i love actess who say that they are pound fo how they look. and i love those Dove commercial that says that all women are beutiful no matter thier wiegh which is so true.i wish it could be like it was in the 50's when people were not so hung up about thier weight. i think Mariyn Monroe had the prefect becaeu she just looked heath and seh had cuvers without trying to get them and no one told her to lodd weight.Plus how a size 14 would be a size 8 now most lkely.i wish we could go back to that.hopful we can go back to women liking their bodys no matter what weight they are cause it really doesn't matter.
Layine Shields

English student said...

Yes I think that women do put too much pressure on themselves. I think that girls and women think that they have be "perfect". Female models are their role models. Society says that they need to have the best body that they can so they go out, spend lots of money, and try to do it. These eating things arent the way to do it anyways. They always do more harm than good. It cant be healthy. I think that women should just be yourself and let people like you for who you are. I honestly could care less what other people think of me, especially if I dont even know them. I feel that things would go so much better for women.

Josh Kaufman

English student said...

I didn't know that their are websites advising people to become anorexic or bulimic. I just think that these girl who have these problems have low self esteem because they see all these skinny girls on tv and they think they need to be like that to "fit in" Why is their such a drive for skinniness among fashion models? I think its because its what everyone else does? Because certain homoerotic male designers are obsessed with boyish figures. "Because the clothes just hang better"??? I dont understand it but the trend must be reversed - but I'm not sure how. Maybe by having healthy girls on tv instead of always the stick thin.
Amanda Borders

English student said...

Girls today do obsess to much about how much they weigh. It is not healty or attractive to starve yourself to look better. Some take it to the extreme and no matter how skinny they are the will always consider themsleves fat. There should be no pressure from society for girls to look as skinny as possible but unfortunatly its there.

James Butler

English student said...

I think that many teenagers up to women by thirty wory about how they look to the world. I don't think that many people want to be model thin, but to be less than their normal weight. I think that it is because of advertisements about losing weight and buying diet pills that will work. Even when people are thin, they still wory and may go on diets. Eating disorders is another problem, besides diets and pills. Some who stop eating don't realize how they are hurting their bodies, but after a while, they think that how small they are and wearing a size 0 matters most.
Katrina Burkhardt

English student said...

Eating dissorders are a big problem in the U.S. It's the T.V that does it. There's too much attention being payed to celebrities and what they do in their off time. But the problem is, all these celebrity women are thin or too thin. They all have money to buy physical trainers and have their own weight rooms, so its easier for celebs to get the body types they want. So when the average not human celebrity figures out that the dieting and excercising doesnt work or gets too expensive, then people resort in bulemia or anorexia. People want to be thin because its starting to become the norm in society. Even middle aged women are tryin to get skinny because of that stupid desperate house wives show, its ridiculous. The media is at fault for woment with eating dissorders.

English student said...

I do believe that eating disorders have become a major issue in the United States today. America is consumed with celebritites and their lives. People see these celebrities on covers of magazines and on T.V. but they really aren't seeing that real person. The magazines covers are airbrushed and formatted to make that person look their best. When celebrities are on T.V. they are made up for hours before by the best of the best. I feel that because of so many people are obsessed with their body images makes them want to be like somebody else and not their true self. I don't feel that the perfect size should be zero, because every person is different and unique in their own way.
Charlie Ramshaw 12:00

English student said...

I do think that trying to be thin is a problem for young girls. Most people consider thin being a good thing. And if you are over weight others make fun of you, so some people resort to eating less and less until they find the have a eating disorder. So Society it self makes people feel like they need to change.
Nolberto

English student said...

Eating disorders are not as big of an issue as the use to be. People today are beginning to feel more confident and comfertable in their bodies. Sometimes it can effect girls badly especailly when they see every single celeb with perfect bodies even after age 50. There is nothing wrong with a little extra wieght unless your life is in danger. I think if you are a health person then you should except your body and not try starving your self to look like what's on t.v.

Oshawa Wardlow