"Without social identity, there is in fact, no society- " Richard Jenkins.
statement holds true to everything in our everyday lives. From the time we can sit up our .
parents plant us in front of the television to keep us out of their way. Commercials and .
media shape our outlook, our self-image, and our stereotypes. Every commercial has a .
message in it; we're to fat, to stupid, not driving the right car, we are all supposed to be .
beautiful . The list is endless, and by this we are socialized- into our identities. .
I am not going to take a look at any one commercial in particular but I am going .
to look at few of the market dominators, self-image and dieting, and where they come .
from. From catalogs, stores, commercials and magazines, it is not surprising that eating .
disorders are on the increase due to the value society places on being thin. In modern .
Western culture, women are given the message at a very young age that in order to be .
happy and successful, they must be thin. Every time you walk into a store you are .
surrounded by the images of withered models that appear on the front cover of fashion .
magazines. Women are constantly bombarded with advertisements catering to what is .
considered desirable.
Thousands of women and girls are starving themselves to attain what the fashion .
industry considers to be the ideal frail figure. The average model weighs 23% less than .
the average woman. Maintaining a weight that is 15% below your expected body weight .
fits the criteria for anorexia, so most models, according to medical standards, fit into the .
category of being anorexic (Brumberg 205). Women must realize that society's ideal .
body image may in fact be achievable, but at a detrimental price to one's body. The .
photos we see in magazines are not a clear image of reality. Adolescents and women .
striving to attain society's unattainable ideal more often than not, increase their feelings .