Who Defines Beauty?

Eating disorders are a very important and controversial subject that needs to be discussed because I believe that one step in the recovery of our nation (in reference to eating disorders) is to be aware of them and the causes of these disorders. Although I know males are subject to eating disorders, a larger number of females are victims of these diseases, so I will be talking more specifically about the women population; approximately seven million women compared to one million men (DMH). These women that have contracted an eating disorder, I believe were influenced by the media. By media, I mean T.V. shows, advertisements, fashion industry, and models (in magazines, fashion, and TV).
Most people have been a witness to the portrayal of women in the media. It is estimated that on average, we are "expected to see between four and six hundred advertisements per day" (The media) and more than one in ten of those ads are based on a beauty product that will feature a model. This exposure to all sorts of medias start at a very young age which, I believe, is directly linked to the age in which eating disorders are contracted becoming younger. "In the 1970s, the youngest ages were 15-17 years whereas now, the youngest ages are 10-12"(Condon). This is a sad fact that children as young as ten are contracting anorexia or bulimia, etc.
This exposure to the media is promoting (unintentionally) eating disorders. I think that ads, T.V. shows, movies, models, and the fashion industry are not trying to do this (promote disorders), I think they are portraying an idealistic view of beauty. This entails many things such as we (as women) cannot go out without make-up, our hair can NEVER be a mess, and most of all, we MUST be thin. Before I continue, I would like to recognize those who have noticed this issue and now uses women of all shapes, sizes, etc in their ads (Dove as an example--> different Dove commercials: Onslaught, Evolution, Through Her Eyes, Real Beauty, and Girl Beauty). Regardless of the few who have recognized this issue, the majority still hasn't and thus causes me to believe it needs to be discussed a bit more.
My main focus for this blog/paper is the thin aspect of the idealistic beauty because this view of thinness is what can cause eating disorders. Why does this view cause these disorders? Look at the media. Let's start by looking at models in the fashion industry. The normal female model has a body weight that is less than their ideal body weight by 20-25%. This is on the verge of being considered anorexic. Why does the fashion industry cause the eating disorders? Because the industry requires models to be so thin that they look emaciated and this is what young girls feel is how they should look to be beautiful. What is truly sad is that not only do the models look anorexic, some of these models do contract anorexia or another eating disorder. In fact, many have died because of this (there are several examples of models who have died due to the eating disorders under the hyperlinked word "died"). I personally know a girl who used to do print work and thus was in the modeling business. She explained to me that they (the people who she worked for) put her on a strict diet and because of this she became ill. She was only 16 years old.
Why do we fall for this ideal body based solely on the modeling/fashion industry? These women are considered to be beautiful and sexy. They are successful in their career as a model. I want to be sexy, beautiful and successful. It's a basic desire of every female. We, as human beings, fall under this assumption that to be all those things, we must be thin. Most (not all because there are plus size models) models are (not to be condescending) disgusting. Look at this picture on this blog. She is purely skin and bones in the most literal of meanings. She is not thin she is nothing. I am not simply blaming the models for this, honestly, I feel bad for them. I blame the industry behind the models, the people who tell them they have to be so thin they resemble a young boy.
What can we do to prevent this anorexia based upon fashion models and other models of an extremely thin, almost emaciated, look? We can understand and know that it does not take us as women to be bulimic or anorexic to be beautiful.
Other types of medias effect our perceptions of beauty too. Television is another way that these medias are spread. For an example of how easily people pick up trends from T.V. is when females went on a Jennifer Aniston "hair craze". Television became a place to subconsciously look and find trends. Most actresses that play a main role, are very rarely over-weight and most are not even the normal weight. Even in animated sitcoms, the women are portrayed as very thin. In the Simpsons, Marge Simpson is extremely thin while Homer is quite large in comparison. This makes society believe that it's not ok for women to be larger, but it is for men, we can still love them. An example of women not being loved is also in Two and a Half Men. All the women who are "loved" are thin, sexy, beautiful, young women. The one woman who is not "loved" is the maid. She is larger than the rest of the woman, has a lower status than the rest because she is a maid, and she seems to be rude and inconsiderate. This relates being larger/over-weight to being rude, unsuccessful, and unloved. What else is there to do besides be thin? We all want to be loved, kind, and successful and not to mention beautiful. The only way to do all this is to be thin. This is one of several causes of eating disorders. This lie that women are fed all over the world that to be loved, beautiful, successful, kind, and wanted, they MUST be thin. When you can't just simply be in the correct B.M.I. range and must be below it, there is nothing else to do but not eat or vomit your food.
Eating disorders are a large problem and are killing people very frequently. 5-10% of anorexics will die within 10 years, 18-20% will die after 20 years of contracting the disease. Another sad fact is that only 30-40% will recover. Death rates are 12 times higher in relation to anorexia nervosa than any other cause of death for 15-24 year olds (DMH). Despite these statistics, there are actually websites that support anorexia (and other eating disorders). These sites (for anorexia) are called "pro-ana" sites. To me it is wrong to promote something that can harm somebody. People need to realize that eating disorders are not choices; they are a mental illness. It may merely start out as a choice (losing weight to model, etc) and then the illness forms from this. If the rest of media (I say the rest because some companies like Dove already have done this) can take notice of this horrible illness and the effect they are having, they can help change it. What I mean is that if the media realizes this and then supports healthy women with a healthy weight and size, the public will be more influenced by the media in a good way. Instead of losing weight to become a stick and sickly, the only weight to be lost is to be in a healthy weight range. This is the ideal woman...healthy.
The real question and dilemma is, what can we do to prevent this anorexia based upon fashion models and other models of an extremely thin, and other medias? We can understand and know that it does not take us as women to be bulimic or anorexic to be beautiful. If other companies went in the direction that dove has, the media would no longer be scorned or blamed for promoting eating disorders. Modeling agencies could do the same thing to help out, too. If all these companies would require women to have a minimum BMI as opposed to a maximum BMI, this influence they are causing would be significantly smaller.

These are simply some links to videos about anorexia and other eating disorders.
Anorexia covered by TODAY
Pro-Ana and Pro-Bulimia
The Early Show
Real Story