I look in the mirror, and I'm not happy with what I see. I don't have perfect measurements, or an all-American face. I look in the magazines, and all I see are girls with the blonde hair, blue eyes, and, of course, a cute little button nose. They're on the outsides of the buses that I take home, the television programs I watch, and the billboards I walk under. Almost every advertisement I see promotes this human physical ‘perfection’. These billboards not only tell me what to drink, but also how to look. I mean, how many five feet, four inch women, with freckles and stringy hair do you see on advertisements? Does this mean I'm ugly?
Our society tends to place more importance on a person's physical beauty, rather than their ability, integrity, and character. We have influenced women to go through painful surgeries and starve themselves to become this socially constructed physical ideal. To be beautiful women in the nineties doesn't mean that you are a brilliant doctor or caring mother. It doesn't mean that you can play a violin gracefully or run a marathon. Unfortunately, beauty is a Bay watch lifeguard. It means you have the perfect jaw structure to compliment your almond shaped eyes and full lips. It means you can be six feet tall and weigh one hundred and ten pounds.
People go through many obstacles to reach this ideal weight. For example, to keep in shape, people diet, jog, roller bade and bike, work out in a gym, and even take pills. There is also more drastic measure that people take to reach this goal. Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia are two ongoing diseases affecting our society today. They occur mostly in young women. Anorexia Nervosa occurs when a woman starves her body. Recently, it has been found that these women starve themselves to get control over their bodies.........
