Body image- what do we think? It seems to me that this is a pervasive topic amongst America’s youth. Who has it? Who wants it? Well, to most who seem unhappy with their body image is it because they have seen someone or know someone who has the body image they desire; but why the dissatisfaction? I spent some time looking up body image graphics online and I have found that our cultures perception of it is most heavily swayed by the media. The media and body image, it’s a recipe for disaster in my opinion. So much time, money, and effort are spent on advertising and other forms of the media that emphasize that skinny in popular, skinny is beautiful, skinny is healthy. But the extent to which these young adolescents, particularly the females will go to attain this glorified body image is frightening. My freshman year at college I had to organize a body type panel for my intercultural communications class, in which panel members were interviewed and questioned by the audience about their personal experiences with body image. This project was so enlightening and eye opening because these candidates were being open and honest about their trials they faced on a daily basis to attain an image that was ultimately unattainable. They spoke about the pressures they faced in high school by their family and peers and how they all got to a certain breaking point where they realized it just wasn’t worth it. Their stories were utterly inspirational but also heatwrenching because for some of the audience members never knew that body image was such a prevelent issue in today's society.
