2008 Woodie Awards
Women should not worry about body shape
By Crystal Hawkins
Rocket Staff Writer
Issue date: 1/20/06 Section: Opinion
If you ask a woman to list her physical attributes, often, she can only think of a few, if any at all. But if you ask her to list anything about her physicality she thinks could possibly use improvement, I am sure the list would be much, much longer.
The "average" woman is said to be 5'4" and weigh 162 pounds, while, according to modelingadvice.com, the "average" supermodel should stand at least 5'9" tall and weigh between 108 and 130 pounds. Can you see the irony in this?
Supermodels are freakish, undernourished representations of what real women are not. I do not see what draws people to tall, stick figures with ice-cold stares. I have no problem with locking all supermodels in a closet together (because they just might fit) and feeding them celery sticks while I enjoy a nice, hot barbeque bacon cheeseburger.
Women continually feel that they have to live up to this supermodel standard, which is unnatural and sometimes even unhealthy. The idea of what is "beautiful" is a superficial concept that we see on covers of magazines and on our television screens, which we spend our whole lives attempting to replicate. This "beautiful" woman is normally very thin, tall and tan. Her breasts are significantly large and rest perkily upon her chest. She never has a misplaced hair or a roll of fat hanging over her form fitting jeans.
What we fail to understand is that no matter how perfect this woman looks in print, she is never as "beautiful" as she appears. There are several types of tricks done to fix blemishes, body parts and even actual weight; all of the things that make us average women unique and individually gorgeous. Not only do women have cosmetic surgery because they think it will make them more aesthetically pleasing, their so-called flaws are always airbrushed out of the pictures, which makes them seem even more heavenly. The holy image that we are constantly striving to gain doesn't even exist!
There is not only one type of beauty, and this knowledge is imperative. Shows like "I Want a Famous Face" on MTV and "Plastic Surgery: Before & After" on the Discovery Health Channel are normal to watch; but when you take time and think about the pitiable people on these shows, it is absolutely heart-breaking to know that we have been so brainwashed in our society that we are molding ourselves after technologically enhanced women.
The "average" woman is said to be 5'4" and weigh 162 pounds, while, according to modelingadvice.com, the "average" supermodel should stand at least 5'9" tall and weigh between 108 and 130 pounds. Can you see the irony in this?
Supermodels are freakish, undernourished representations of what real women are not. I do not see what draws people to tall, stick figures with ice-cold stares. I have no problem with locking all supermodels in a closet together (because they just might fit) and feeding them celery sticks while I enjoy a nice, hot barbeque bacon cheeseburger.
Women continually feel that they have to live up to this supermodel standard, which is unnatural and sometimes even unhealthy. The idea of what is "beautiful" is a superficial concept that we see on covers of magazines and on our television screens, which we spend our whole lives attempting to replicate. This "beautiful" woman is normally very thin, tall and tan. Her breasts are significantly large and rest perkily upon her chest. She never has a misplaced hair or a roll of fat hanging over her form fitting jeans.
What we fail to understand is that no matter how perfect this woman looks in print, she is never as "beautiful" as she appears. There are several types of tricks done to fix blemishes, body parts and even actual weight; all of the things that make us average women unique and individually gorgeous. Not only do women have cosmetic surgery because they think it will make them more aesthetically pleasing, their so-called flaws are always airbrushed out of the pictures, which makes them seem even more heavenly. The holy image that we are constantly striving to gain doesn't even exist!
There is not only one type of beauty, and this knowledge is imperative. Shows like "I Want a Famous Face" on MTV and "Plastic Surgery: Before & After" on the Discovery Health Channel are normal to watch; but when you take time and think about the pitiable people on these shows, it is absolutely heart-breaking to know that we have been so brainwashed in our society that we are molding ourselves after technologically enhanced women.
