“Man I look fat! I will never have the perfect body.” This is what many young women say when they look at themselves in the mirror. There is no such thing as the perfect body, yet many people believe there is. The media is one factor that plays a role in society’s view of young women. Today, women with eating disorders are affected greatly by the media. Television, magazines, posters, and billboards all show how the media views what young women should look like. Tall, rail-thin, a flawless complexion, and great hair are a few of the things that women today should entail. This is impossible, but yet a great number of women believe they can achieve this perfect body which the media portrays.

There are many factors that play a role in the way women feel about their bodies, but the key factor is the media. Women feel the constant pressure to mirror the image of models and actresses in magazines and on television. This feeling may begin as early as childhood. A pre-adolescent becomes very aware of how society views the “perfect body.” A study done in 1996 showed that the amount of time an adolescent watches television and reads magazines is

In conclusion, all of these factors have an affect on how women perceive their body. Where do all these factors come from, directly from the media. Therefore, the media does have a strong effect on young women and them developing eating disorders. The media is everywhere, it is almost impossible to avoid. So if the media is impossible to avoid, there is always going to be constant pressure on women and how they are supposed to look. Women need to understand that there is no such thing as the perfect body and that it is almost impossible to achieve. If this body image obsession never ends, there would be a world of perfect looking people, and that would just be plain, old boring. This obsession also needs to stop because young women may take this obsession to the extreme. They may get so wrapped up in their body image all together and stop eating. Once one stops eating, or develops an eating disorder, it is very difficult for them to get back to normal eating habits. Their dissatisfaction with their body worsens and their frustration builds. This frustration and desire to be thin can erode this persons mind until they are obsessed with it. This obsession can be fatal, and may even cause death. One may ask the rhetorical question, would one rather be overweight or die trying to fight it. This answer may seem obvious, but not to all people. The media needs to stop representing women in one way. Everyone is their own person. Everyone comes in different shapes and sizes and everyone needs to be proud of who they are and the way they look. God made every person in the entire world unique, so why would anyone ever what to change what God has created. Everyone has flaws and weaknesses that make us who we are. Every person in the world should be proud of who they are and accept it because it is a blessing.

Women may also view models or actresses as role models or idols. They want to be exactly like that person in every way possible, which can include their weight. They may say, “Well this is

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