Body Image vs. Body Reality

My butt is so big!
I look so fat in this outfit!
He doesn't like me because I'm not thin.
The only way I can stay thin is to live on cigarettes, coffee, and gum.
I just ate a piece of cake, so now I can't eat all day tomorrow.
If I could just lose weight my life would be perfect
Look at her--she's so thin. I hate myself for being fat

Do any of these sound familiar? How much of your time and energy do you spend thinking about your body and your weight? You are not alone if you spend:

• more time thinking about what you look like than what you’ve accomplished
• more time worrying about how to lose weight than how to gain wisdom
• more time trying to change the shape of your body than trying to change the world

Men and women alike are surrounded by images of unnaturally thin women, by magazines that tell women how to please men and look sexy, and by TV and movies that suggest that women's main value is as a sexual object.

Why has “fat” become such a dirty word? Why is thinness equated with beauty, success, goodness, happiness? To look at media images that promote unrealistic beauty standards click here http://www.about-face.org *(disclaimer below). Are body image issues the same for all women*?

Check out our section about Eating Disorders.

*Ramapo College of New Jersey recognizes the value of publishing on the Internet. The College does not preview, review, censor, or control the content of these pages in any way as a matter of course. Web pages are those of the authors, and do not in any way constitute official Ramapo College of New Jersey content.