You stand in a checkout line waiting to purchase items. You look around and see a fashion magazine and decide to flip through it to pass the time. You see many models and advertisements, all looking similar. All the models have perfect abs, glowing skin, and a flawless complexion. You start to compare yourself to these models wishing you could be one of them, telling yourself that you and others will see you as more desirable. There is such an obsession with the media and the portrayal of oneself in society. The advertisements in these magazines cause women, as well as men, to be oversexualized. There is a hidden message in the midst of all of it, and it is that women need to be sexualized, and essentially need to look a certain way in order to be desirable in today’s society.
Now I don’t have a problem with models, advertisements, fashion magazines etc. but I have a problem with the message they are sending to women. No normal human being looks like ANY models in these fashion magazine advertisements. The average woman weighs about 40 more pounds than what these models look like, and yes probably has acne, stretch marks, split ends and oily skin. When looking through the magazines, it’s virtually impossible to not compare yourself to them. We have all been there before, seeing models and saying in your head “Ugh, I NEED to look like that.” And then going home and googling diets, workouts, skin remedies, the whole 9 yards. Instead, the models at most times look emaciated, too airbrushed, and too perfect. What does that tell us? That we need to look like that to be and even feel beautiful. A study showed that 97% of women today have body issues. Most women in between the ages of 20-47 weigh an average of about 152 pounds. These images in the fashion magazines basically tell women that you need to have this body to be desirable. You and me are a part of that astonishingly high statistic. How can we decrease that statistic and overall decrease the amount of oversexualizing happening to women today?
We all know that magazines aren’t going to stop using these kinds of models for a while. So us as a society need to realize you don’t need to starve yourself, excessively work out, or even get liposuction to feel beautiful. Beauty is what you make it. It is confidence, and class. It can not be defined by your body weight, stretch marks, or acne. It’s okay to realize that you’re not like these models in the fashion magazines, but you also need to realize that is it okay to eat a box of pizza when you feel sad, or indulge on cookies and ice cream when you’re not. In the end, you need to define society, and not let it define you.
