Body Image

from: Bridget

This photo shows how society influences young girls to desire a perfect body image. This problem starts at a young age. Little girls are given a Barbie doll to play with. They want to be exactly like these dolls when they grow up.  In this picture you can see a young girl surrounded by innocence such as her stuffed animals and then the introduction of the perfect Barbie doll. Hannah is such an innocent young girl with her hair tied back in a ponytail. But as you can see in the background, she is in prison to what society’s expectations are for a woman. 

Why do women go to such extremes to achieve a perfect body image? All women at one time or another have not liked something about themselves and wish they could change it. To achieve this goal, women will go to extreme lengths to be just like this unreal and plastic Barbie doll. But why does society have such unreal expectations of women?

Advertisers create an unrealistic image of what women should look like. Women resort to diet pills to help them achieve their ideal weight. Victoria’s Secret is no help to building women’s confidence. Woman stuff their bras or turn to getting breast implants to achieve the perfect body. Trying to be beautiful is an obsession with women. Stores have young, thin and beautiful models to display their clothes on. How depressing it is for a woman to never measure up to the plastic Barbie or the fake store mannequin. 

Women obsess with hair. Is it the right color and texture? They will spend hundreds of dollars at a beauty salons. Society tells women that should have a golden tan. Women should have perfect teeth, hair and weight. Society shows that women should be thin. Women will even throw up their food in an effort to keep their weight down. Women have the magazine ads of swimsuits to compete with. This creates inadequate feelings when they themselves wear a swimsuit. They don’t measure up to the models.

Body image is a serious problem that women have to deal with. We all want to look like Barbie because that was our very first role model. Hopefully through education and awareness women will come to accept themselves just as they are.