Overweight Woman

619 Words2 Pages

The Affect of the Mass Media on Society's View of a Woman's Ideal Weight Over a period of time societies view of the ideal woman and their weight has dramatically changed. According to Joan Jacobs Brumberg (an author of a popular book, Fasting Girls) in the 19th century, "bigger was considered better." Back then "the larger a man's wife was, the more she was seen as a good provider. Today, however, fat is seen as unhealthy and being "thin is in." Now when we see an overweight woman we tend to stereotype them as "lazy" and "sloppy" and we equate slenderness with being successful and attractive to men (Michael Levine, 1987). You can see how drastic these changes have become over time by looking at the facts. Even in the 19th century …show more content…

Until then drug stores and county fairs were the only places women could weigh themselves. Today nine out of ten people own a home scale and over a period of time dieting has become the latest trend. There are over a hundred different diets with over a hundred different answers on how to loose weight. Over time society has slowly taught women to measure themselves in terms of physical appearance. Therefore they strive to improve their figure to meet societies standards. However, the standards that society has set (for example, supermodel Kate Moss) are out of reach for most …show more content…

Thanks to television, magazines and movies, we are constantly given the impression that "thin is in." Magazines for teenage girls generally contain articles on looks, where the emphasis is on make-up, fashion, weight and how to attract boys. Surprisingly $20 billion is spent on cosmetic ads and $40 billion is spent on the diet industry each year! Both target mainly women. Because of the media, women often feel that 1) in order to be successful you must be thin, 2) Guys often are attracted to thin girls rather than heavyset women, and 3) thin is crucial to physical

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