Week 6: Media

           I really enjoyed listening to everything everyone had to say in class this week about media and gender.  I think this is a huge on-going problem that we have in this world, and it won’t get any better if we don’t do anything to change it.  Everyday I see advertisements in magazines and on the television of rail-thin models who are considered the epitome of beautiful.  I, myself, am aware that that is not the case, and how men biologically are attracted to a women with curves because it shows they are able to bare a child, but young girls might not understand these things.  Yes, there are times where I see an advertisement and think, “Wow she looked really good I wish my legs were that skinny,” but in the end, I am comfortable in my body and, unfortunately, that is not something that all women can say.  They see these models in the media and try to strive to be exactly like them, they aren’t comfortable in their body and that is a very sad thing.  It is the reason why so many girls today have terrible and detrimental eating disorders, and it is an epidemic that needs to be stopped.

            The problem of eating disorders hits very close to home because my best friend struggled with this issue in middle school and high school.  She was unfortunate enough to fall under the myth that you had to be skinny to be beautiful, like what was shown in the media, and it was painful to see her go through this and not be able to help her.  For years, our close friends and her parents tried to get her to see how beautiful she was in her natural body, and that she didn’t need to lose any weight.  That did not stop her though, because what she saw in the mirror was completely different than what we saw when we looked at her.  As humans in this big world, we need to realize that the media isn’t everything.  Just because the media says “skinny is beautiful” doesn’t mean that is how everyone feels.