An Impractical Obsession:
The Westernized portrayal of beauty is stunting the growth of young women. But some are fighting back.

"I would rather be dumb than be a slut, but I would rather be a slut than be fat or ugly."

This statement was made by an 18-year-old girl taking part in Lauren Greenfield’s widely acclaimed traveling photo series entitled “Girl Culture.” In the series, Greenfield photographs women and young girls, displaying their thoughts about their bodies and the obsessions resulting from the Westernized view of ideal beauty alongside the photos.

Unfortunately, statements such as this have become all too familiar among the youth of America. In 2004, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry estimated that ten out of every 100 women have an eating disorder. And with the media focused on thin, blemish-free, youthful women as the standard of perfect beauty, it’s not surprising that women claim dissatisfaction with their natural bodies, have low self-esteem, and turn to eating disorders for comfort and control.

But the pervasive trend of uber-thin and sexually enhanced women is not without dissent. Initiatives such as the Dove Self-esteem Fund, the Campaign for a Commercial-free Childhood, and the “Pact Against Anorexia” are attempting to curtail this destructive viewpoint.

Unachievable Ideal

Peruse almost any women’s magazine and you’ll notice that over half the content focuses on dieting and tips to look younger and more beautiful—methods that help women meet the media’s portrayal of ideal beauty. Even the dolls children play with are models of this ideal beauty. If an average woman were to actually look like a Barbie doll, she would have to grow taller by a few feet, add about four inches to her bustline, and reduce her waist by at least five inches. Back in 1997, Mattel pledged to make Barbie appear more realistic, with a larger waist and hips and a smaller bust, but the modifications have yet to be made.

In ads and billboards women are portrayed with perfect skin, hair, and body proportions. If you examine the reality of these photos you will find that they have been altered to an extreme. The Dove Self-esteem fund, a program trying to change narrow definitions of beauty, features a video on their website demonstrating what’s really done to a model before and after her photo is taken. Blemishes are covered with excessive make-up or digitally removed by computer. The model’s body proportions are also changed digitally; her neck is thinned and lengthened, her eyes are enlarged, and shadows are created to better define her cheek bones.

So, can anything be done to alter these unrealistic and psychologically damaging depictions of ideal beauty?

The Home Front

In the U.S., there aren’t many programs trying to change our media’s obsession with sexually-charged fantasy. But there are programs seeking to promote healthy self-esteem, and organizations attempting to curb how much of this unrealistic beauty children digest. The Dove Self-esteem Fund is committed to showing women of all ages, all around the world, what true natural beauty is. They’ve also teamed up with the Girl Scouts of America to create “uniquely ME!” – a program that teaches young girls great self-esteem from an early age.

Another group that’s fighting these impractical images is the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC). The CCFC is dedicated taking the control over children’s minds away from the media and giving it back to parents. The organization evolved from a series of conferences protesting the corporate influence on children and the Golden Marble Awards – the advertising industry’s sordid celebration of marketing to children. To date, the CCFC has 12,000 members and 30 organizational members consisting of health care professionals, educators, advocacy groups, and concerned parents.

According to Josh Golin, Program Manager of the CCFC, the media force-feeding children these unnatural notions of beauty has very harmful affects.

“Studies clearly demonstrate the role that the media plays in creating unrealistic expectations about body image,” said Golin. “From a younger and younger age, girls are taught to focus on their appearance, and that the way they look isn’t good enough – they need fashion, products, diets, etc. . . .”

The CCFC’s latest victory occurred last year in a battle with the toy company Hasbro. Hasbro wanted to make the girl pop group called “Pussycat Dolls” into, well, actual dolls marketed to girls between the ages of six and nine. If you’re not familiar with the Pussycat Dolls, they are six exceptionally thin women who embody and promote the Westernized standard of beauty – complete with the hit chorus: “don’t ya wish your girlfriend was hot like me.” But in a two-day period, the CCFC, in conjunction with the advocacy group Dads and Daughters, were able to mobilize parents to write Hasbro two thousand letters in protest. It worked; Hasbro took note and canceled the dolls’ release. Now the CCFC is trying to stop Scholastic from selling whorish Bratz dolls and products at elementary school book fairs.

The Battle Abroad

While the CCFC fights our unrealistic standards for women here in America, others are combating them abroad. One campaign, called “Pact Against Anorexia,” was launched in Spain and has roughly two hundred participants. It is attempting to propagate imagery of women that is more realistic or “curvy.” For instance, all fashion models participating in shows will have to be of healthy weight (i.e., if a model is 5’7” tall than she must weigh at least 123 lbs. – the minimum ratio of what is considered healthy by the World Heath Organization). The campaign is promoting healthy eating habits and the regulation of exposure to dieting goods. The city of Madrid is even going so far as to ban thin manikins from stores, replacing them with more full-figured ones. They are also studying 8,500 women between the ages of 12 and 70 in an attempt to determine the average sizes of women. The information will be used to maintain consistency for clothing measurements, rather than varying from brand to brand.

Many other countries have shown interest in joining this movement, including South Korea, Australia, and the U.S., with some already excluding unhealthy, skinny models from participating in their own local fashion shows.

"The fact that the world's main fashion shows have followed our initiative shows that there is already a consciousness of the seriousness of the problem," said Madrid Regional Prime Minister Esperanza Aguirre.

But in today’s media landscape, where kids are spending six-and-a-half hours a day plugged into electronic entertainment and teenagers wander through the provocative digital landscape of Myspace, the battle to instill children with a real sense of self-worth is only beginning.

To view the “Evolution” Video, visit: www.campaignforrealbeauty.com

By Mallory Glover

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