Every time
I flip through a magazine or turn on the television I am appalled by the nearly
naked images of women I encounter. Now, there is nothing wrong with the human
body but when it is sexualized, photo shopped to look a certain way, or when
women are extreme dieting to achieve this image there is a problem. Why are we
as a society supporting such blatant objectification?
Speaking of
objectification, last night was the annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. I honestly think it was only the 3rd
time I have watched it. The first time I watched it was my senior year of high
school. Even though I was taught to love my body, I couldn’t help but let
negative thoughts enter my head and cause me to wonder what it would take to
look like one of those models. Luckily I didn’t let those thoughts turn into
actions and that I have accepted my body the way it is.
Out of
curiosity I did a little research on what Victoria Secret models go through to
look the way they do. According to The New York Times, Victoria Secret model,
Adriana Lima says that she trains for the show like Olympians do for her big
moment on the runway; she works out twice a day, takes egg powder (whatever
that is), drinks a gallon of water a day, sees a nutritionist who measures out
exactly what she needs to stay healthy yet slim, which is good I guess? What
isn’t so good is that she doesn’t eat solid foods and only drinks protein
shakes. Then 12 hours before the show she doesn’t eat or drink anything. This “dries” her out and can lose up to eight
pounds by doing so. Sounds like a lot of work if you ask me.
Yes, I agree that
these women are beautiful but they aren’t realistic and they aren’t good role
models. What are young girls suppose to think when they see these women? That
in order to be considered beautiful, I need to look like them? It is so
disheartening to see how our society has put these models on a pedestal and
consider them to be the ideal body type. Truth is, there is no such thing as
the perfect body. We are all different. We all have insecurities. We all
struggle. We are all imperfectly perfect.
