Older women are generally more secure with their body size than younger more impressionable women. So you would think that the plus size models would help a person improve their body image, and reduce the pressure society puts on an individual to be thin, yet this is not the case. The thin perfectly proportioned female actress and the tall muscular male model that appear in almost every magazine, movie and television show are ideals that are unnatural, and in a sense physically impossible for somewhere between 98 to 99 percent of the population (Maynard 9). It must be kept in mind that modeling or acting is a career for these people. Also many have had major body makeovers, and have full-time personal trainers. Also photos in ads can be airbrushed or changed by a computer. Exposure to unrealistic body shapes such as the ones on television gives a person the message that if they want to be happy and successful, they must be thin. .
Being thin and fit is somewhat a sign of success in today's world. A person working hard to make their body more perfect represents values that our society holds important. The closer someone gets to achieving an ideal body, the more people will admire them. Modern society is intolerant of those who don't meet a set standard of beauty. Studies have shown that people now associate an individual with a larger build with being less competent and intelligent than an individual with a thinner build. Also a strong connection has been made between a small body size and good jobs. It has been shown that if two people with the exact same qualifications interview for the same job, the thinner person has a better chance of getting the job. Furthermore, it has been shown that those who have what society considers a good job, and receive a high salary are usually thin (Rodin 227). .
Modern society and a person's peers are not the only source of pressure to be thin, many times a person's (mainly children and young adults) parents influence then to lose weight.
