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Many teens don't realize the psychological or physical dangers behind reed-like bodies. Instead they uphold super-thin images as their ideal. Valdes says, “And caderas [hips] are a magical sphere of womanhood” (49). “In English, hips are something women try to be rid of . . . My mother’s people [White and American] hate my hips” (Valdes 50). By presenting an ideal which is difficult to achieve and maintain, the cosmetic and diet product industries are assured of growth and profits. “ [. . . ] the majority of American beauty-industry moguls: focus on the corporate bottom line, and to hell with the health and welfare of those who create the profits” (Zimmerman 38).
While women starve (anorexia), or make themselves sick with use of laxatives to get slim (bulimia), male sufferers worry they're too small, and work out to achieve their ideal muscular physique. According to Cloud,
Adonis (half man and half god) Complex is being utilized to describe a variety of body image concerns, which have been plaguing boys and men especially through the last decade. Men, who find themselves caught up in these obsessions, soon discover their lives can begin spiraling out of control, jeopardizing careers, as well as relationships with friends and loved ones. (44)
The images of the steroid-pumped bodies have propagated into advertising, television soap operas, professional wrestling shows, movies and magazine covers. Cloud claims that “Last year American men forked over $2 billion for gym memberships—and another $2 billion for home exercise equipment” (44). From early childhood, boys are assaulted with thousands of images of steroid-sized bodies, all conveying the subtle message that
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this is how an ideal man should look. “[. . .] G. I. Joe Extreme, introduced in the mid-90’s . . . have a 55-in. chest and 27-in. biceps if he were real, which simply can’t be replicated in nature” (Cloud 45). The other possible source of men's body insecurities is the growing empowerment of women. “In an age when women fly combat missions, the authors ask, ‘What can a modern boy or man do to distinguish himself as being “masculine”?’”
It is also very unfortunate that so many young women and men are starving their bodies and souls to fit what our culture has considered to be "ideal." O’ Connor talks about how 2000 year old Fijian culture was shattered by American television programs. Fijian people were happy to be fat. “‘You’ve gained weight!’ was the universal greeting, meant as high price” (O’ Connor 190). Things started changing when the “[. . .] Fijians started watching shows like Melrose Place, Seinfeld, and Xena, Warrior Princess and began to associate with images linking extreme slenderness with glamour, wealth, and satisfaction” (190). O’ Connor says that “[. . .] ‘western attitudes about weight loss moved through the community like wild fire’” (190).Many girls then turned to extreme dieting to control the situation. “Indeed, the rapid emergence of eating disorders in Fiji—one generation that never questioned the virtue of corpulence followed by another desperate to slim down—could betoken a future epidemic” (O’ Connor 191).
Every time you walk into a store you are surrounded by images of emaciated models wearing the latest fashions. Does this really affect the young women and men? I think it does, because even I find myself wondering if I was skinnier or prettier, would I be guaranteed all the "happiness" and attention that all of the models, actors, and
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actresses are believed to have. The American society needs to learn to love and accept themselves. People should begin to love their bodies, no matter what size they are. If a child is raised to love and accept who they are and what they look like, they will be less likely to strive to fit into society's unattainable standards. Our society needs to learn to be realistic, as no number on a scale, and fitting into a smaller dress size will make anyone happy. Real happiness can only come from within.
