SubscribeFretful Women Fueled By Modern Media
The UK Telegraph reports that the average British woman worries about the size and shape of her body every 15 minutes. A survey of 5000 women (average age 34) found that just 2% were happy with their body.
Let's stop right there. There is something wrong with this picture.
The Telegraph calls this 'research' - but it is actually "a survey conducted among readers of the women's magazine Grazia and on the Emap publishing group's websites". This is an eye-opener.
Quite frankly it demonstrates that women who read Grazia ("Britain’s No.1 Glossy") have an incredibly poor body image. Cause or effect? Such a survey demonstrates that the closer you are to certain forms of media - the more unhappy you are.
Three of the celebrities that survey respondents rated as having the best bodies weighed just over seven stone - Kate Moss, Sienna Miller and Victoria Beckham.The readers of Grazia hate their teeth. They hate their neck. Their hair is too thin. They are unhappy with their face, their feet - in fact virtually everything except their ankles.
The average weight of the women was 147 pounds - yet their ideal weight was 128 pounds. The women "would try almost anything to lose weight."
It seems we place the fleeting satisfaction of "thin-is-hot" vanity on a pedestal to the exclusion of all else. I am going to side with J K Rowling on this one. Here she refers to her desires for her daughters:
"I'd rather they were independent, interesting, idealistic, kind, opinionated, original, funny – a thousand things, before 'thin'"
I love my ankles too. :)
Replyagh... this is tiring. I'm teetering on the edge of just letting my friends bad-mouth themselves because it seems as though no matter how much I point out their good qualities, it doesn't seem matter (if not momentarily).
It's frustrating and I think I'm being desensitized towards this too.
You bet there's something wrong here! How sad is it, that after all the things women have achieved in the past century--getting the vote, access to higher education, being able to develop careers and raise families, achievement in the arts and entertainment fields--that it comes down to "yeah, but I hate my body." I'm not immune, I've had my share of body issues, but I managed to put them aside for more than 15 minutes to accomplish some things of worth in my life.
We need to establish our own media and put other voices out there besides the big media establishments. They don't have our best interests at heart.
ReplyThat's funny..the only body part I really HATE is my ankles. But yeah, what is wrong with these publishing companies that they make everyone feel so dang inferior? There's so much more to life than how voluminous your hair is or how white your teeth are. I have tried to stop reading magazines like Allure, Vogue, Cosmo, etc., because according to them I'll NEVER be good enough. They make you feel like you're a crappy lover, you aren't thin enough to wear any of the clothes in there, you aren't tall enough, you definitely don't have enough money to buy that $4500 bag that will make you awesome, etc. Whatever happened to being a good person? Being healthy and happy? I guess you wouldn't know from reading most women's magazines.
ReplyProper diet and exercise are the mainstays for a healthy lifestyle, although many Americans turn to costly fad diets and exercise programs that fail to provide weight loss and a healthy lifestyle. The basic tenets to gradual weight loss and good health include developing healthy eating habits and increasing daily physical activity.
ReplySorry to ask you this, but what is a stone in kilos ?
ReplyIt's bad enough having to calculate from lbs all the time, but when you add stones, I'm lost :-)
ReplyI totally agree with Spectra! Why price those stupid magazines so everyone can buy it but not afford anything in the damn book! Makes no sense to me. And all those skinny models are soooooooo UGLY! have the bodies of 8 year old boys and not so cute faces. I love Fitness magazine because at least it tells you how to get great results, and it has worked for me. And the girls in the magazine are not as "unreachable" than the size 0, 6 foot models! LOL
1 stone = 6.35029318 kilograms
ReplyIt sucks to have to learn to like your body, but everybody has to do it. I haven't reached it yet and I don't think anybody really feels good about themselves for more than 5 minutes. Comparing, obsessing over skinnier girls. It never ends when your a girl..maybe when your a woman?
ReplyNothing new there, don't we always wan't what we can't have? deep down i know i don't want to look like kate moss (that's too thin) but hey! its something to aim at. Women should learn to love themselves and set achievable targets or else we'll forever be misserable.
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