With the word ‘fat’ carved into the skin of so many teenagers and skeletal girls staring in the mirrors and seeing chub, it is not hard to tell that eating disorders and self image problems have a horribly large part of society. These types of problems often have people asking who is at fault and the answer seems so simple to so many. Some people blame other children, for planting the ugly ideas that go through the mind of people who resort to starvation, or purging, in order to fit in with what is thought to be beautiful. This may be true, but these girls had to learn that thin is beautiful from somewhere and that somewhere has to be the media. Actors, actresses, singers and all around icons for the young show children and teenagers over and over again that being skinny, having flawless skin and hair, as well as expensive, perfect clothing, shows beauty. The fact that the media has this much control has become a huge problem in society today and something has to be done to change the negativity that it produces.
It most definitely is not hard to blame the media, which has become filled with flawless men and women showing young girls and boys what is beautiful and what is not. Women in the media are now considered fat if they wear a pant size larger than a zero and get posted in tabloids if seen in an outfit that costs less than a couple hundred dollars. Young girls and even boys look up to the media and very often base their own opinions on the opinions of the most famous icons within it. The word fat has become an often used insult, with ugly not far behind. With this type of thought process many resort to starvation in order to become what others find to be beautiful. Thousands upon thousands of people become hospitalized each year for eating disorders, which shows just how much of a problem it is. People change everything about who they are in order to fit into what society wants them to be and this loss of individuality has no place in the world. The question that must be asked is what can be done?
With such a prominent problem in society, how exactly can the opinion of so many be changed? How can young girls see that they are beautiful, whether very skinny, or very curvy? How can our society make the starvation and the purging slow down and even stop? The problem starts with the media and, therefore, it should also end with the media. The media, as stated, has a very large part in the opinions of so many, especially in their teen years. If the media can cause an entire society to see that only skinny, flawless girls are beautiful, then they must be able to do the opposite, too. All of the icons in society have to show that all different body types, hair types and even clothing are beautiful. The many icons of the media have to find a way to show young girls that they can be beautiful by being themselves and not trying to fit in with an image that is almost impossible to become. The ever-present image that the media portrays must stop and beauty needs to soon become an adjective with a million different meanings and with the media on society’s side, this can most certainly be done.