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In This Issue » Body & Style » Women, Body Image and the Media

Women, Body Image and the Media

The Sad Truth

Written by: Heather L., Reporter – Posted: Wed Jun 27th, 2007
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Did you know the average model is 5'10" and 110 lbs (a size two), whereas the average woman is 5'4" and 145 lbs (a size twelve)? The media has women striving for something that is not within their reach. Everyday, the media bombards the world with images of the perfect woman: a tall, skinny and big-breasted woman who is passive, submissive and tends to her womanly duties. The unrealistic view of what a woman "should be" has females everywhere reaching for unattainable and sometimes unhealthy goals. The media's view of a woman is ubiquitous, but today I will discuss three of the major media sources: television, magazines and movies.

Consider this: the average person in the United States sees about 400-600 ads a day, the majority in the form of TV advertisements. These ads often feature beautiful models who sell us anything from junk food to cars, beauty products to pet supplies.
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I am so sick of people blaming the media for people's poor body
image. Its not one's fault but their own. if they don't have
either the will power to get fit and in shape or the inner
strength to realize that what they see on TV and in magazines is
rare and know that who they are is probably just perfect, then its
no one's fault but their own.

You wouldn't watch TV and look at ads in magazines if there were
fat, ugly people on it. Its the truth.
Tell us something we don't ALREADY know.
Yes i think we all know that the average woman is 5'4 and 145
pounds. Although you could have saved some space by saying that
the average woman is 5'4 and fat. Most models have bodies that are
the perfect, healthy size.
I definitely agree with you on the size issues. I've noticed that
most of the clothes left on the sale racks are a size 00-1! No
wonder they are left over! Barely anyone will fit into them!

I do think that we've come a long way from where we were. Has
anyone seen ads from the 50s and 60s? Anyone read old issues of
Seventeen and Cosmo? VERY different stuff going on. Today women
are more career-oriented and I think that the media is finally
beginning to portray this.

I have noticed lately that more and more commercials feature men
doing the cooking or cleaning, imperfect bodies, and non-caucasian
people.

But I bet a great # of ads still feature a thin white woman,
scrubbing away at a flawless kitchen or bathroom as though it were
her main mission in life!