A "weight"y pressure

For my dear readers living outside of the U.S, I would especially like to hear from you.
In the U.S., tremendous pressure is placed on young girls to attain a certain body type, and this pressure follows a woman throughout her lifetime. That is, I’m afraid it does! At the end of my life I’ll know for sure and let you know (smile), but suffice it to say that this pressure has been with me for several decades. Every time I snack on something, even have the desire to, I’m racked with mental calculations and rationales for eating.
Do men experience the same kind of thing?
A “solution” to this pressure for many women that I know, including the family member most precious to me, is purging. Purging. What an ugly word, frequently following the word “binge.” Women eat (sometimes to excess) and then they make themselves throw up. You know, now that I think about it, it’s not just women that do this! I guess men do experience the same kind of thing because I know men who purge as well!
Throwing up is not fun. It hurts and it’s uncomfortable. What breaks my heart the most when thinking about bulimia is the level of shame and self-loathing that accompany such behaviors. There are many reasons for doing it, perhaps they want to stay “pretty,” perhaps it’s the only thing they can control is a chaotic life. No matter what, it is exacerbated and even preyed upon by media images.
Here in the U.S., there have been an increasing number of advertisements that are taking more deliberate efforts to show the “real woman,” women of all shapes and sizes. For all their efforts, there is still a long way to go, as most of these women are white and able-bodied, however, it is a start.