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| Everyone is beautiful. Open your mind and eyes to see it! |
If you’ve glanced at a magazine or turned on the TV in the last
decade, you’ve got a good idea of what media’s definition of an
attractive woman looks like: she’s tall, has long, flowing hair, is
surgically and digitally enhanced, blemish-free, and very thin. In fact,
academic research tells it like we see it: studies show the women we
see in media these days are thinner than ever, much thinner than the
real world, and very often thin enough to be considered anorexic by
world health standards. And in a world where a constant – and we mean
constant
– flow of media images far exceeds the number of women we could ever
see face to face, this abnormally thin and digitally enhanced feminine
ideal has become the norm in our minds.
A counterfeit, dangerous, unattainable norm.
This one constant image of what it looks like to be a woman is so
powerful! When we only see a certain type of woman presented positively
in media, from teen magazines to family sitcoms, it’s no wonder media
contributes to women’s painfully low self-esteem and focus on
appearance. We know all too well the pressure girls and women feel to
achieve the unrealistic weight, size or shape represented as normal and
attainable in media. We are identical twins working on our PhDs in media
studies, and we are committed to helping females everywhere recognize
and reject harmful ideals so we can move on to everything more
important!
