I am reading a biography for one of my psychology classes about Marilyn Monroe. I read something that was very interesting about her and her role as an icon in the media. Marilyn Monroe was the last female icon in the media to be a normal healthy weight, and have a normally proportioned female body. She was veluptuous with wide hips, big breasts, and a curvacious figure. If Marilyn was a celebrity today, she would be told to go on a diet immediatley and be sent for lyposuction. Women of Marilyn's time still saw her as a sex symbol. But they also felt that they too could look as beautiful and seductive with the right dress, hair, and makeup. Her look was attainable for the average woman because it was a realistic look and a healthy body image.
Today this absolutely not the case. Celebrities, models, and other icons of our time have a completely unrealistic and unhealthy image. They are extremely thin, and project an image that is unattainable. A boyish figure with no hips is praised, while a fuller more womanly figure is criticized. Curvy is the new fat. Magazines and television make it look like women are supposed to weigh 90 pounds, and fit into a size 0 (even if they are 5'9".) A lot of women and young adults think that this is what they should look like, and that it is possible since they see stars with these bodies. This kind of mentality often leads to unhealthy and dangerous behaviours. Cosmetic surgery and liposuction are become more and more common. Eating disorders and reliance on diet pills are solutions many people turn to become thin. The pressure to look skinny is so great for some people that they harm theirbodies. I think people need to take some time to evalute themselves and realize what a healthy body image is. They should realize that it is not healthy for your ribs to show through your back. It is unfortunate that this is the image that American media projects, but at least there are companies, such as Dove, that are taking steps to show what real beauty and real people look like.
1 comment:
I LOVED this blog. It makes me so sad that the last "positive" image role model was famous fifty years ago. I like how you pointed out how Marilyn Monroe was comfortable with herself, and was considered to be averagely built, yet is one of our culture's most popular sex symbols. Today, its often addressed that you're not sexy unless you can strut yourself down the Victoria's Secret runway. Body image has both a physical and mental affect, and it doesn't surprise me that it could be a major factor behind the breakdowns of so many Amerians. Where are the Marilyns in the world our culture so desperately needs?
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