amen sister..
i'm another 5'1", 100 pounder who definitely has a supreme self confidence problem *especially my fat legs!*i second boycotting the media and tabloids!
Eating disorders are mental disorders. While the media may play some role in their development, they can't possibly be completely to blame.
of course not - but i, for one, can't deny it does help ease the pain a little to have some sort of outlet for animosity..
The perfect photos in magazines are all photoshopped so they dont even count besides I dont know what magazines your buying but half the photos I see in them are of celebrities looking there worst, bad fake tans, celeulite, bulging bellys, bad boob jobs and so on, I would of thought that it would of had the oppisite effect giving you a confidence boost. in my opinion everyone already looks great or can look great, and perfection is hardly perfect at all but unnatrual and offputting, does anyone else feel the same?
christ, people blame the media for everything.
do you realize that those magazines are influenced by the people who buy it? people want to see this stuff, so the media puts it out. if the vast majority of us thought that women could be beautiful no matter what their size, then you would see magazines portraying women varying in size. the purpose of media is to sell, and in order to sell you must give consumers what they want to see. by no means is the media at fault for anything but mimicking the tastes and opinions of its audiences in order to KEEP its audiences.
i've come to accept how society works and thinks. i don't complain about society because it's not that easy to influence the opinions of billions of people on an international scale. blaming the media is pointless. blaming society is pointless too, unless you want to say that opinions can be incorrect which just isn't so.
What's different, I think, is some kind of crisis of self-confidence and lack of ambition in young girls. When I was growing up in the 80's feminism was still the thing. We wanted to get on in life, travelling, breaking down barriers, forging careers and making a mark in a 'mans world'. We didn't want babies and wedding rings and all the stuff that kept our mothers tied to their kitchen sink. We were normal girls with posters of goofy rock stars on the bedroom wall and we loved boyfriends, fashion & make-up but if anyone had suggested that the way to succeed would be to get ultra-skinny, implant a pair of fake tits and marry a footballer we'd have laughed into our copy of the 'Female Eunuch'.
I suppose every generation has to sort out its own personality. But what does pain me, looking at the media, is that we seem to have come straight through feminsim, out the other side and reverted back to the passive submissive 1950's in one fell swoop. Ever seen the movie 'Stepford Wives'? The 'heroines' are now either stupid, skinny and rich... Paris Hilton, Victoria Beckham... or stupid, skinny and badly behaved.... Amy Winehouse, Lindsay Lohan... Why would any self-respecting young woman want to be like that?
Original Post by garnet18:
christ, people blame the media for everything.
do you realize that those magazines are influenced by the people who buy it? people want to see this stuff, so the media puts it out. if the vast majority of us thought that women could be beautiful no matter what their size, then you would see magazines portraying women varying in size. the purpose of media is to sell, and in order to sell you must give consumers what they want to see. by no means is the media at fault for anything but mimicking the tastes and opinions of its audiences in order to KEEP its audiences.
i've come to accept how society works and thinks. i don't complain about society because it's not that easy to influence the opinions of billions of people on an international scale. blaming the media is pointless. blaming society is pointless too, unless you want to say that opinions can be incorrect which just isn't so.
I completely, 100% agree with you. The media gives people what they want. The supply is backed by demand, without demand they wouldn't be focusing on the people that they do.
Well my comment has nothing to do with the media... ok maybe. I'll just put my 2 cents in and let you guys debate that issue. SO anyway, I do think our teenagers are very much influenced by the media and thier so called role models.
Now back to my comment. I too was 100-105 when I was in my 20's, (also 5'2").... and I DID have fat thighs. Now I am still 5'2", 37 and weigh 115 and love my thighs. They are more muscley now and have a great shape. I wouldn't trade my bod now for my bod then for anything. With the exception of my abs after two C- sections, but thats about it.
Anyway, thats all I had to say.
Peace out :)
a) everyone who's saying that the media only reflects what the public wants- yes i know. i didnt say rise up against the media with pitchforks, i said boycott- as in show them that we don't WANT to look at pics of only stick-thin models- we want some other body types too!
b)ok i guess i was a bit overdramatic, but i still stand by my point about the media's influence- EDs have hugely increased in number over the last 50 years and it's no coincidence that the media has been showing skinnier and skinnier models and actresses too! think about it- if you didn't look at any form of media (and didn't know ppl with EDs), what would possess u to try desperately to attain a specific body shape & weight? why would u arbitrarily just choose an extremely low body weight unless SOMEONE was telling you that that's whats pretty?
and c)(this is for odie03, but id appreciate anyone's answer)- im just curious- i work out plenty (3 times a week intense biking for 1/2 hr, once a week karate for 1 hr, once a week walking 4.5 mph for 45 min, once a week leisurely walking for a couple hrs) so my thighs are pretty muscular but i can never get rid of my jiggly inner-thighs. is there a way to firm them to or should i just not bother and continue to accept em the way they are?
but you see, people aren't going to boycott the media if they like what they see. the majority will not take a stand. if a minority decides to take a stand, the media will just brush it off because it reflects the majority, not the minority. this is why boycotting the media is ironic.
personally, the media didn't influence my desire to be skinny. real girls did.
Who can we blame for the opposite? for being over weight and obese? I don't blame anyone else but myself. It was me who choose to eat crap and not exercise and it's me and me alone who is now choosing to eat healthy and lose weight. I don't want to look like anyone else and I don't hope to, because I know I never will, But I do hope to be happy with my body and to be fitter and healthier. So to sum up the media hasn't influenced me at all and to those who it does influence, then maybe there's some other problems that should be addressed and the media is just a small part of it.
It sounds to me like you do alot of cardio. Can you add atleast two days of weight training. If you don't have access to a gym there are some decnt videos that have a slew of lunges, squats.
If you have a small step stool you can do one leg squats. A lil hard to explain so thats why I recommend a video.
And yes I do think you should learn to love your thighs. We 90% genetics, 10% is what we do.
Just my opinion.
Original Post by justkeeprunning1:
b)ok i guess i was a bit overdramatic, but i still stand by my point about the media's influence- EDs have hugely increased in number over the last 50 years and it's no coincidence that the media has been showing skinnier and skinnier models and actresses too! think about it- if you didn't look at any form of media (and didn't know ppl with EDs), what would possess u to try desperately to attain a specific body shape & weight? why would u arbitrarily just choose an extremely low body weight unless SOMEONE was telling you that that's whats pretty?
Did you ever consider the possibility that eating disorders are much more publicized nowadays, especially in the media. Ever notice how stars seem to be popping up with eating disorders left and right? While I sympathise, I can't help but question the authenticity when claiming to have an eating disorder now means instant publicity for Hollywood has-beens.
Of course the media has a lot to do with it. The media tell us about the stars with eating disorders, they tell us when someone's too skinny, too fat (curvy) they tell us lots of people are getting obese and over weight. Anyone who worries about getting fat reads the media and feels 10 times worse.
