Why is it that so people in western world, Iceland included, are concerned

about losing weight?

In fact, there was a shocking report in Icelandic newspaper in summer of 2006 that girls

as young as seven have put themselves on strict diet in order to lose weight.

What does ideal woman look like?

According to society and media, ideal woman should be tall, thin, and young of course, with

not wrinkle nor grey hair in sight.

Is this true? No, of course it is not.

However, girls and women are obsessed with looking like models and actresses they see in

magazines, films and on TV.

As matter of fact, while average weight of the population in western countries has steadily

increased over last 50 years, average weight of models, actresses and

pop stars has steadily decreased.

You only have to look at photos of 50s and 60s to prove this.

This means that when teenagers in mid-fifties looked through the fashion magazine pages,

they saw models that had figures more or less similar to own.

Marilyn Monroe was sexy, but she was never thin.

No longer is this case.

Nowadays, teenagers who look through similar magazines see models that on average weigh

20% less than they do, and begin thinking that maybe they need to diet to look like them.

Popular magazines often have articles telling teenage girls how to attract men of dreams,

how to lose weight, and how to look "perfect".

In same magazines reader is told to love herself for what she is and not to be constantly

thinking about body.

How can reader not be preoccupied over what she looks like when spread throughout

magazines are pictures of gorgeous models.

What magazines are really saying is that girls should love bodies, but only if they

look like girls in the magazines.

Diets are published in teen magazines all time.

Fad diets come and go.

trouble with so diets is that they are hard to follow.

diets leave you hungry and craving food all time. When you cannot keep to diet,

you feel guilty and as result lose self esteem.

In order to deal with society’s harsh view of women who are not supermodel

thin, women turn to eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia to prevent themselves

from getting "fat".

Women more than men are judged on appearance before words are spoken.

Until women are no longer seen as having to be thin, tall, and gorgeous, women and

young girls are going to be dissatisfied with their appearance.

When women are unhappy with appearance and are discriminated against because of it,

they go to great lengths to become thin. Most of the ways are unhealthy and therefore we need to

demand that real women be seen in media, and not just "Barbie" look-alikes.