21st Century Issue:
THE “PERFECT” FEMALE BODY By Elizabeth Augustin “This morning on CNN, Christie Brinkley - an American supermodel and actress admits she is currently struggling with body image. She tells us ‘For some reason I still looked in the mirror and I always find something to pick on. I’ve went from too fat, to too thin, to too muscular. It’s hard being a model. You’re always under pressure to be perfect. Except, I don’t think perfect exists.’” “Emily, what are you watching on the news!? It seems interesting.” My friend Jessica screamed from across the kitchen. She eagerly paced across the tv screen, then plopped down on the couch right beside me. “Hmm, I don’t know. Seems my mom’s favorite model is struggling with her body.” I shrugged and gave a sarcastic laugh, rolling my eyes and waving at the TV. “She’s fine. What is she complaining about? She makes girls like us feel bad.” I quickly lifted up my purple panda pajama t-shirt and grabbed my tummy fat. “I mean, what should I say? She has no reason to complain.” Jessica eyed my tummy and gave a dramatic laugh. “Girl, I just came from the kitchen, I’m near overweight. I hog up all the food in your house and you know it.” She nudged me. I gave a quick peek at her stomach. It was poking out from the thin shirt she was wearing. I mean, she did just eat. I grabbed the remote and turned up the volume. The news anchor was speaking now. “2016 was dominated by ridiculous and delusional fitness and health trends. First, the thigh gap. It celebrated woman whose legs don’t touch when there feet are together. Then, came the bikini bridge, where your hips protrude when lying on your back. Even in China they have bizarre challenges including the waist challenge. You hold up a piece of paper which is approximately 8.3 inches and try to see if your waist fits that size. There’s an iPhone 6 challenge to show how skinny your knees are, a 100 Yen challenge for skinny wrists, and a belly button and collarbone challenge! The list goes on!” Anderson Cooper said, setting his papers down. He looked into the camera, his eyebrows raised, and forehead wrinkled. “Let’s hear from you, Don.” I glanced at Jessica who was engaged in the news, for once. She was leaning forward, her hands interlocked. On the TV, Don Lemon was outside a busy New York City street, a scarf wrapped tightly around his neck, and a long coat on. He clutched his microphone as a stranger came beside him. This man was an African American guy, and he had two friends with him. One was white, the other Hispanic. “What do you perceive as the perfect female body?” He asked the Hispanic male. “Well, men always prefer women who are more feminine,” He gave a shy smile and shrugged. “You know, more boobs, more booty.” His other two guy friends laughed in the back. “Songs never sing about a flat butt.” Jessica grabbed the remote from my hand and put the sound on mute. “Oh my gosh. You know how I used to smoke right? I was skinny. After I stopped I literally gained 20 lbs. I mean, I do get more compliments on my bigger butt than my perky one. It does feel good to get attention.” “Yeah, Jess. You did seem bony… you almost looked boyish.” I chuckled under my breath. Jess had a lot of curves now. Guys digged it. “You know, I never talked to this about you, it might seem crazy. I’ve never told anyone but, um…” I stopped and took a breath. She’s going to be the first person I ever told my anorexic problem to. “Well, I’ve dealt with anorexia.” She gasped, but I kept going, looking down at the wooden tiles. “I knew I had Mike, my boyfriend who loved me. I knew I had you,” I looked up for a second, then back down. “And my family. I knew I had everything. Potential, support, etc. But, I was disgusted at myself. I resorted to self harm to deal with my emotions.” Jessica jumped out of the couch and covered her mouth. “What!?” She pushed my shoulders and lifted my left sleeve up. Faded cuts were visible. I turned red from embarrassment and teared up. “No way. When was this?” “Ninth grade to twelfth.” I whispered. “ I knew you were skipping meals. No wonder. You look so much healthier now.” I didn’t want to continue this topic so I stalled by unmuting the TV. I was a bit sad. Now the Caucasian guy of the group was speaking. “Honestly, us guys don’t want to be the only ones eating. We’d feel awkward. We associate wide hips with childbearing as crazy as it sounds. It’s subconscious.” Lemon nodded and asked the African American guy something. He smiled at him, but quickly turned serious. “Do you think social media has any part in all of this?” He nodded fast and grabbed the mic, looking dead at the camera. “Body image itself is based off of a mental picture of your figure. It’s how you see yourself. Where do you think these girls get the image from? Most likely social media, magazines, the radio. Songs sang by Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda”, Meagan Trainor’s “All About that Bass.” They promote curvy bodies. This is damaging and enforces an ideal image. Even my girlfriend, she wears a waist trainer to get that small core look. She wants an hourglass body. She’s told me a million times. Gosh, even my boss at work has starved herself. Most of the girls we see on television get surgery to get that perfect body look. Teens and adults really think we could be exactly like that.” He shook his head disappointed, but Don pulled the mic back, in awe. He nodded slow, indicating he was impressed. “Wow, you’re absolutely right. What’s your name, sir?” “Davon Jackson.” He said, smiling. One of his friends came from behind him. “Yeah, man. With apps like Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram… it’s kind of hard not to give in to the hype. It gives us all the tools we need to compare ourselves to others. I’m sure we’d all want to be whatever is getting cherished. We all want to be seen when we walk into a room. The Kardashians are a great example of that. They enforce the idea of a “curvy” body. They go through great extents to look good.” I turned off the TV and gave a loud sigh. I rubbed my temples and looked at Jessica. “They’re so right. Oh my goodness. I need to start loving my body for what it is. I don’t want to give into the trend. I’d rather love what I got.” I started to say. “Same, girl. Oh look, your mom’s walking our way.” She got up and hugged her. “I could hear the TV from upstairs. You know, I had this magazine lying around in my bedroom. Maybe you should take a peek. She took an issue of TIME magazine. Printed in bold was ‘BODY CRAZE.” I opened it up and showed Jessica. She leaned in closer to me. Inside was a bunch of statistics on this matter. My eyes ran across some. “Approx. 91% of women are unhappy with their bodies and resort to dieting to achieve their ideal body shape. According to statisticsbrain.com 80% of woman agree media makes them feel insecure. 58% of college girls are pressured to be a certain weight.” I flipped to the back of the magazine where they explained the body type valued in each decade. “Classic Beauty - Ancient Greece Woman with chubby arms and legs are considered beautiful. Food is a sign of health. During the Great Depression men preferred curvy woman because it associated with wealth. 1900 - The Gibson Girl Ideal femininity deciphered as slender, tall, with voluptuous bust and wide hips. 1950 - Post War Remained fuller figured, hourglass women were prized such as Marilyn Monroe and Grace Kelly. 1960 - Twiggy Minimal chest, boyish look was the new sign of beauty. 1980 - Hardbodies Increase and emphasis on fitness. 1970 - Thin Is In Anorexia was common. Ladies took diet pills to decrease hunger. 1990 - Heroin Chic A bony appearance is valued. 2000s - Now Ladies who have an hourglass body is valued like Kim Kardashian. Ladies work out often, but there are still many diabetic people in the U.S. Issues with Anorexia is still common.” was written on the magazine. Jessica shrieked and pointed to a statistic on the magazine. She read it out loud. “81% of ten year olds are afraid of being fat. Geez, that’s young, Emily. They shouldn’t be worried about that yet.” I frowned and turned the page. “Daughter of Billy Joel shares out to us. ‘I don’t have a completely flat tummy, or cellulite free thighs, nor am I a model shape, or height. But, I still feel beautiful. Everyone should too.” “I like that,” I pointed out. “That’s my viewpoint on body image from now on. Trends come and go, but self love is forever.” “We need to start focusing on loving ourselves instead of following the trends. Now, lets go to Planet Fitness then eat ‘til our heart’s content.” Outside, my mom’s car honked. I gave a gigantic smile and said, “Lets.” Elizabeth is a sophomore. She enjoys writing in her spare time. She originally wrote this piece for her United States History class.
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Epiphany Literary Magazine is a safe space for students at Franklin High School to share their creativity. Archives '16-'20
June 2020
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