Glamour Wars

When standing in front of a fun house mirror, the image perceived will be drastically different from the true image of the individual. The shape revealed through a fun house mirror is distorted, misrepresented, and disfigured. Similar mirrors of distortion can be found all throughout society. In “Reviving Ophelia”, Mary Pipher initiates a discussion regarding the messages of inadequacy being conveyed to young women worldwide; when young women look at the shapes and figures of numerous models on many prevalent magazines, their personal self-image has been warped. By presenting these images to young women, it sends a constant message of inadequacy; thoughts such as, “Gosh, I wish I had her thighs,” or “Wow, look at those slender abs,” are relentless ideas circulating through the heads of young women. According to the studies performed by Mary Pipher, 70% of women begin to feel guilty about their figure within three minutes of gazing at magazines (1998). Such thoughts create a negative alteration of self-image and self-worth. Mary Pipher believes that many defiant actions of adolescence are not a result of dysfunctional families, but instead are consequences of a very dysfunctional culture. Evidence of a dysfunctional culture can be found in various advertising and media messages conveyed to individuals worldwide and validated in countless forms of eating disorders, depression, sexual problems, and avoidance of social settings found within our youth.

It is appalling that society teaches such extreme standards of beauty that in order for one to obtain such a norm, one must damage their body. It is far more atrocious however when one learns that such prevalent beauty norms are only characteristic to five percent of the entire population! A cultural belief in slimness is advocated and encouraged by the media worldwide. If an individual were to take the challenge of finding a current popular romance movie in which the plump woman gets the hot and sexy man, it would not consume a large quantity of time to discover that such a movie does not exist. One may wager that “Shallow Hal” would be a good candidate, but even in this movie the man is under the impression that his woman is slim and petite. Obvious social messages instruct young children that it is bad to be overweight. While many physicians and medical specialists might agree with this message due to the rise in obesity and related health care costs worldwide, one must examine the true definition of what it means to be overweight.