Body Image

Hey Ang! I warned you this one was coming!


It’s all around us. Fashion magazines, high-fashion models, celebrities—all around us are influences to be thin, sometimes dangerously thing. Most of us know that the images we see in magazines or on the movie screen are unrealistic. Yet, day after day, we continue to pursue unattainable goals of having the perfect body, with the perfect hair, and perfect skin.

Why do we have these images? More importantly, why is the media lying to us about how the average woman should look and feel? Women in America have a distorted body image because mainstream America is allowing body image to be manipulated.

We all know photo manipulation happens. Whether it’s a few pounds shaped off a woman’s waist or taking the wrinkles away from her eyes, nearly all images we see today have been manipulated in one way or another. For example, I used to work for a company that produced hundreds of magazine ads. One day I saw a picture of a woman going into one of the ads. I knew this woman—she was your average, stay-at-home, soccer mom. She wasn’t a model and she certainly wasn’t famous. When I saw the picture I said, “Wow! She looks great!” The designer informed me that he “shaved” 20 pounds off her thighs with Photoshop. I was absolutely shocked. The designer then told me that this type of photo manipulation is common. “It happens everyday,” he told me.

It’s this same type of photo manipulation that is bombarding our daily lives. Our world is flooded with these images that are completely flawed and unrealistic. The result is that plastic surgeons have booming businesses and more anti-depressants are being prescribed. It’s damaging our self-worth as women and destroying our social, emotional, and physical lives.

So, in the midst of my rambling soap box, I applaud Kate Winslet, Dove commercials, and the Spanish modeling world. Thank you. Thank you for taking a stand and helping women everywhere realize that we are beautiful just the way we are. Thank you for giving me a public example so I can one day teach my daughters, nieces, and granddaughters that there are real women in this world. And each is beautiful, no matter her pant size.