Imagine being constantly judged every single day by the way you choose to express yourself, yet you can’t control it. You see in today’s society women are constantly compared to the ideal image of weight and appearance which is “unrealistically thin.” Many believe that women should resemble models in order to be viewed as beautiful. Yet women still idealize models despite their malnourished bodies, romanticizing the infamous concept "thin sells and fat doesn’t."Although the size of a model’s body shapes the way some women view themselves, it shouldn’t define them as human beings because women shouldn’t have to endure body dissatisfactions or physical alterations to be accepted.
When women see thin images but are satisfied with their bodies, these images don't affect them, however, some women see thin images and are immediately dissatisfied with their bodies, affecting them adversely. As women expose themselves to these images, they believe an “idealized beauty” needs to be attained no matter the course of action taken. As stated by Dr. Carolyn Coker Ross, "women once saw average models as role models, who were able to represent their inner selves but everything has changed since today’s role models are significantly thin, establishing a new trend towards malnutrition."
Since women are always concerned about their image, the urge to become super skinny is considered 'the new sexy,' leading to multiple alterations centering around their physical appearance. The average United States woman is about 5’4’’ and weighs 140 pounds, yet the average model is about 5’11’’ and weighs about 117 pounds. No matter how hard women try, society will always criticize them.
Females should give themselves more credit when it comes to their appearance because no individual should have to worry about what others think of them. When society realizes that the ideal image of a woman's weight is a phase of the past, there will no longer be thin models to idolize.
Be yourself and love yourself as one in the same, after all, zero isn't a size, it's just another number.
