Models and Anorexia

Hello!

When you look at those models, what do you think? They are all thin and beautiful and show the clothes that they are wearing off well. In the fashion world, this is the ideal body type to have. However, there are a small number of people in the world who are born tall and skinny, but there are a lot of people who certainly feel that they should look that way.

I was doing some research on my project and I came across this astonishing finding in a study I read. The study found that 54% of women who don't have an existing eating disorder said yes when asked the question "Do you believe that the ads you see and hear create strong images of the desirability of being thin, thereby inducing you to keep weight down?” However, an even more astonishing 91% of women who do have eating disorders already answered yes to this question. This means that women who are already anorexic or bulimic go deeper and deeper into their disorder the more they are exposed to ads portraying models and unnaturally thin women.

This is horrible! As I was reading, I was so surprised to see such a high number! Women who have eating disorders already have a very skewed image of the way their body looks, but by having ads that promote being thin or portray women as being attractive only if they are thin only makes these women feel worse and worse about themselves. Anorexia and bulimia are psychological disorders that as a result of a skewed reality, women do anything to make themselves get to the size that they want.

Personally, I think that this is bad, and that there should be some sort of regulation put in place to control the size of women or how much they are photoshopped in images for magazines. What do you think?

Source: Peterson, R. (1987). Bulemia and anorexia in an advertising context. Journal of Business Ethics, 6(6), 495.