Weighting for Perfection: The Obession with Body Image In America

When you look in the mirror, what do you see? “Self-image is the set of beliefs and image we all have and hold to be true to ourselves” (Cohen, 4) though most Americans do not see themselves as they truly are. The way people view and judge their bodies and others’ around them is called body image. In order to discuss this topic further, I will refer to an interview I conducted with Katy McReynolds, a sophomore at Tarelton State University. Katy is a beautiful young lady who is content with who she is. Most Americans have negative body image and go to extremes to obtain the “perfect” media approved body. Let’s begin with America’s obsession with “fat.”

Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Lopez, Paris Hilton, Katie Holmes, Victoria Beckham, and Fergie, what do they all have in common? They were all in People Magazine’s Top 25 Celebrity Hot List. To be “hot” like these stars, we are supposed to maintain the body they have. The media places pressure on today’s society to keep us thin. “Fat oppression doesn’t just affect fat people or fat women. It really works to keep everyone in line” (Cohen, 1). In magazines Tyra Banks, Star Jones, Janet Jackson, Kristie Alley, and many others are criticized because they are the heavier side of Hollywood. “Fat, in short, is seen as bad, and thin is good. Preoccupied as people are with food and dieting, fat people and thin people alike seem to share the notion that fatness means a loss of self-control” (Cohen, 4).

The media uses the thin stars to try to shape American’s ideas of what their body image should be. “The magazines, TV shows, commercials and movies spit out all these great looking people at us and all we can do is look at them in awe. Granted there are a few larger people like Queen Latifah, Roseanne Barr, John Goodman, Kevin James and John Candy to just name a few. But tell me, how many 'fat' people can you name in the media?” Katy stated. Compared to the number of thin actors and actresses, there is no contest. We could run out of ‘fat’ people to name and keep the list for the thin people going easily. Watching these thin celebrities, we desire to have a body like theirs and we go to extremes to obtain them.

Bombarded with images of “perfection” daily can be damaging to the self-esteem of anyone in America. This is why people are willing to go to extremes to obtain the body other have. “If someone thinks they don't have that super-sexy body they've been wanting for a while now and go to extremes to get it, such as developing eating disorders or getting plastic surgery so they can get it…” (Katy)

Often they begin with dieting. “The diet industry is a multi-billion dollar industry” (Cohen, 3). Most diets offer a “quick fix” to the problem, but according to Dr. Cohen, less than five percent of people who use these “quick fixes” lose weight permanently. “Approximately ninety of every one hundred pounds lost is regained” (3). Recently they have begun to show commercials for a product called Akavar. Out of 24 participants in the testing of Akavar, 23 lost weight. They say you do not have to change your diet or exercise to lose weight but if you do it can enhance the effects of Akavar. The participants who took Akavar for a full year experienced no rebound weight gain. Is this just another “quick fix?”
After failed dieting, some people may develop eating disorders to lose the extra pounds. Most people believe women are the only ones who develop eating disorders but according to T. Donald Branum, who was used as a source for Alicia Potter’s article “Mirror Image”, men make up ten percent of anorexics, twenty percent of bulimics, and nearly fifty percent of binge eaters (4).

Plastic surgery is another extreme people use to lose weight and fix their ‘imperfections.’ Katy expressed her concern of plastic surgery stating, “If you had a poor body image the first time, who's to say that you won't see imperfections in the second body and then you'll want to fix that and then you'll see more imperfections and the cycle will just continue.” Again most people believe that women are the only ones going out and getting plastic surgery, but in “Mirror Image” the author points out that men make up for twenty percent of all plastic surgeries. Barry Davidson, a plastic surgeon, says that, "Men come in and say, 'I want to get rid of this fat.' Then they grab it" (5).

Should we be able to approve of what we see when we look in the mirror instead of having other approve of our body for us? We have place too much importance on looks and the obsession with body image has damaged our society. Americans began to use extreme dieting, eating disorders and surgery to obtain the media approved body. If this obsession continues, in ten to fifteen years, more people will develop eating disorders, models will be thinner than they already are, and everyone will want to get their face ‘fixed.’ The only way to break this obsession is for Americans is for them to learn to be happy with whom they are instead of wanting to be what they are not.

Work Cited

"Akavar 20/50: Eat All You Want & Still Lose Weight." 2006. 28 Sept. 2007 .

Cohen, Barbara. "The Psychology of Ideal Body Image as an Oppressive Force in the Lives of Women." June 2001. 20 Sept. 2007 .

McReynolds, Katy. Personal Interview Sept. 2007

Potter, Alicia. "Male Body Image." Infoplease. 2000–2007 Pearson Education, publishing as Infoplease. 20 Sept. 2007 .