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Don't Try To Be Barbie
Now that we are back in school, many of us are noticing just how much the break has affected our bodies. Many of us feel rested and ready to take the new semester by the horns. Many other girls however, are starting to feel the pressure of the added holiday weight. Being that it is nearing February, many fashion lines have begun to release their ad campaigns for the spring and summer lines. These prints show gangly stick-girls in skimpy clothing, making many regular sized women feel as if they have just doubled their weight over the break. Girls have begun to trade their cookies for push-ups, staring at their reflections, pinpointing their various “flaws”. Twitter and Facebook have been logged down with messages from girls stating that they are all going to hit the gym, some even going as far as to say they were “ready to stop eating." Now, I ask, why would you allot yourself on only one celery stick a day, while simultaneously jogging forty miles? All of this torture and hunger, and for what? The magical transformation from a "Santa Claus" into a "princess"? Now, I hate to burst that magical bubble, but super-model status is simply not attainable for many of us. These women are freaks of nature. They are not even close to the norm. They are all very tall and very thin. They have legs longer than the proportional length for their body. Even their faces are abnormal, with higher cheekbones and wide-set eyes. They are a very small percentage of the human population, and yet many emulate them. Young girls are, unfortunately are feeling the pressure. Back when our parents were young (now I’m talking 50’s and 60’s here), the occasional thin beauty popped up on magazine covers, the most famous of course being Twiggy. But today’s girls live in a world of stick-thin images everywhere. From billboards to magazine advertisements, to even children television shows, thin is seen as beautiful while heavier set and even normal figures are made fun of. Younger and younger girls are giving into the pressure of being thin, believing that only thin is beautiful. They grow up idealizing the models and striving to be like them, ultimately warping their idea of beauty. With all of the problems surrounding the status of today’s fashion model, it is hard to understand why designers continue to cast rail-thin girls. It all comes down to advertisement. “It's finding the girls that make your clothes look best,” states fashion show producer and owner of People’s Revolution, Kelly Cutrone. "Clothes look better on thin people. The fabric hangs better." Those who take these words to heart find that the only way to gain that sought after body is to diet and exercise an obsessively unhealthy amount. Eating disorders are becoming rampant bringing with it low self-esteem and depression. I, for one love my curves. Sure, I may have a little cushion for the pushin’ on some parts of my body, but hey, I’m only human. We are all only human. We have the body we are born with and it’s the assets and flaws that make us individuals. If we try to take away what makes us our own person, we would lose parts of ourselves that other people envy. I say, we should just forget about the new ads and go out and have some wings with friends. After all, if we continue to obsess about our bodies, we will miss out on what is truly important; these few years of college and the memories we will make.
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