70% of adolescent girls have body dissatisfaction.
Eating disorders are the 3rd most common chronic illness in young females.
Shocking, I know…
From an early age women are bombarded with the concept of ‘thin is beautiful’, this is portrayed through size 0 actresses, with alarmingly small frames with their ribs and collarbones painfully poking out of their skin.
In the modelling industry being a size 10 is considered to be ‘plus-size’, even though the average woman in Australia weighs 70kgs, which would roughly be a size 16.
Vogue Magazine stated that the reason they chose Gisele Bündchen as their ‘Model of the Year’ due, in part, was the fact that she retained her ‘stick-thin’ image. In fact, Gisele weighs only 115 lbs. and is 5’11 – 25% below her ideal weight.
Media is part to blame for adolescent eating disorders as they portray unrealistic ideas of what a beautiful woman should look like. Adolescents are highly influenced by celebrities, therefore putting immense pressure on young girls to live up to the expectations of society.
Although, there are a number of factors that could influence adolescent body image disorders including; genetic vulnerabilities, psychological factors and socio-cultural influences. The media should take this in to consideration when using models on the brink of starvation, and actresses that look like they’re in desperate need of a cheeseburger. I believe they are heading in the right direction with campaigns including the Butterfly Foundation Awareness Campaigns which raise funds as well as generate an understanding of negative body image and eating disorders, and NOW Foundations ‘Love Yourself’ Campaign which empowers women to spread the word about the hazards of the media’s narrow beauty ideals.
The Secret Diary of a Uni Girl 
It is crazy what the mind can do. It doesn’t need help from social media. (in reference to the photo at the start) Your totally right! I for one am guilty at wishing i had a body like a victoria secret models due to the adds ive seen before watching Youtube videos.
Really enjoyed this post, great work! 🙂
The picture you used is very hard hitting and therefore effective in supporting your writing. Nice choice!
I liked your writing style and the example of Giselle and Vogue. Though I think you may need to edit the second (I think) paragraph?
“From an early age women are bombarded with the concept of ‘thin is beautiful’, this is seen on television with actresses being a size 0, and skeletal models with ribs and collarbones poking out of their skin.”
I’m studying editing, and I THINK it would read better as something like: “From an early age, women are bombarded with the idea that ‘thin is beautiful’. This can be seen daily, through size 0 actresses and models with their ribs and collarbones poking painfully out of their skin.” Or something like that. Just reads better to me 🙂 Also, I think an example would really drive your point home! Good work.
Thankyou! Appreciate your feedback