This week in our women’s studies class we have been discussing issues of beauty relating to gender. Our society has such unattainable standards of beauty. The models that we see on television or in magazines are terribly thin. Only 5 percent or less of the population is naturally that thin. The average model is also much taller than the average American woman. We all realize that models are touched up to look better but we don’t realize just much their appearance is altered to be considered beautiful by our high standards. This week got me thinking about how much our society obsesses over beauty so I searched a few popular magazines to see just how much beauty and weight related stories they were running.
Pretty much every inch of a women’s magazine is soaked with stories telling us how to look better, or lose that extra ten pounds that has obviously been holding us back. Stories about positive body image are few and far between. The message behind all these stories is that women are constantly in need of improvement; be more beautiful, lose more weight, be more successful, be happier. All of these ring loud and clear that we need to do more in our lives to be the ideal woman.
What would these magazines be like if suddenly every woman became the perfect size and perfectly beautiful? They wouldn’t have as much to write about. I would like to see more stories about how amazing women already are, and how much they give of themselves for the betterment of the world.
I wish our society could appreciate things as they are once in a while because God made us all different in a beautiful way.
