The media’s portrayal of women consists of mixed messages, one minute we hear “curvy is beautiful” and the next we are barraged with images on magazines with petit skinny models. In reality the ridiculously skinny and photo shopped girls are the majority of what we see. This contradiction is confusing to women especially young girls who are looking to identify a role model. Magazines, television, movie stars, and advertisements are promoting unrealistic and unhealthy images for women in our society today.

Young girls idolize photo shopped women in magazines and believe that these flawless images are a realistic body type. They look to these images and believe that they must achieve the impossibility of becoming flawless as well. In an interview with Victoria Secret Model Doutzen Knoes she admits that “she doesn’t even fulfill the fantasy in real life” she states “I don’t really look like that” when talking about her photos used for advertising the underwear used in Victoria Secret. This is something that all girls should hear because it helps show that not even the prettiest of pretty can’t really look like the dream girls used in advertising today. According to former Super Model Paulin Porkizkova “Photoshop can make anyone look beautiful in this day in age.” But is fake really considered beautiful? Although I do understand that retouching a photo and airbrushing can make a picture more “appealing” to what the media is trying to sell in our society, I do not understand why women the average size cannot do the same. If averaged sized women were put on magazines more often than size 2s and 4s, there is a possibility that there could be less frustration for the average women in today’s society and help reduce eating disorders and insecurities.

One popular woman in the Hollywood world today that stands up against becoming too thin is, Jennifer Lawrence. She has been known as a beautiful yet healthy looking curvy sized woman that speaks out against the lie that you have to be skin and bones to be considered beautiful. She says to Life Style magazine that she “is so sick of these young girls with diets” and that she “thinks it is really important for girls to have people to look up to and feel good about themselves.” According to Lawrence in an interview to E news she states “I think when it comes to the media, the media needs to take responsibility for the effect that it has on our younger generation.” I think in Hollywood today it should be filled with more Jennifer Lawrence’s. She helps not just the younger generation, but the older generations as well believe that you should love your body the way it is.

Extreme Diets also play into the mentality of an unhealthy female body image. Whether it is eliminating whole food groups, only drinking liquids, taking no food at all, or using dieting pills, extreme diets can cause dangerous harm to the body. Many girls look to the media for help on how to achieve the body image that women in Hollywood have, and sometimes they turn to extreme dieting. The problem is famous actresses will reveal “their secret” on how they are so thin, and women will use their secrets, and most of the time their secrets can be very unhealthy and could possibly lead to an eating disorder. It is sad to say that the mortality rate associated with anorexia nervosa is twelve times higher than the death rate associated with all causes of death for females 15 to 24 years old. Along with that, 10 percent of dieters progress to partial or full eating disorders. Extreme dieting is another way the media portrays an unhealthy lifestyle for the Women in our society today.

When all of these things come together, Women fall into the mindset that they must be perfect, and with the media telling you constantly that you must be a size 2 to be beautiful it is kind of hard to not believe it, especially since social media, magazines, and television is always in our faces. More average sized Women should be put on the cover of magazines and be the stars of some major motion pictures to help give girls better role models and help reduce insecurities and eating disorders for young girls and Women in our society today.