Our society is fixated on the idea that the ideal woman is thin, and not only thin, but young, beautiful, intelligent, and capable of taking care of herself while still taking care of the people she cares about. Women of this day and age wake up and feel this undeniable pressure to not only be what society expects them to be but to look like society wants them to.
This pressure leads to women taking drastic measures to become this "ideal woman," and since the rise of social media, it has only become more prevalent, especially in today's youth. Whether it's extreme exercising, risky diets, or eating disorders, young women are caught up in looking as thin as possible, without understanding the dangers of these practices. In the article "Why Do Women Hate Their Bodies?" MD Carolyn Ross states that "From a young age, women aspire to Barbie-like measurements that are physiologically impossible without surgery and/or starvation" and that "50 to 70 percent of normal-weight girls think they are overweight." It is appalling that this has become a societal norm. Young girls are looking to celebrities and models and saying "That's what I want to look like" except these role models are almost always manipulated by computers and Photoshop before being put in magazines and on television.
Very recently there has been a break in this ideal, and that break is Iskra Lawrence. Iskra is a size 14 plus-size model who is now the face of Aerie, the brand that is known for its use of "untouched" models. While there are some people shaming Iskra for her size, she is closer to the average size of women in America rather than the average size of models all over the world, and this alone gives America's youth a new positive role model. She is taking over social media and showing women, especially young women, that size is just a number. More and more companies are following suit and incorporating plus size models in their advertisements. For example, Dove prides itself on including average sized and average looking women in their ads and beauty campaigns. There is also Vogue Magazine, which has recently stated they will no longer have models under the age of 16 or models who appear to be suffering from an eating disorder. This prompts women to embrace their own beauty, and not fall to the societal pressure that tells them what they need to look like.
Hopefully this is only the beginning of a new revolution and more and more women will begin to feel empowered by their own beauty and size. The new generations of young women shouldn't have to worry about what society thinks of them, only what they think of themselves. Confidence is key.
