We are continuously exposed to these messages of unrealistic beauty, as the average person is expected to see between four and six hundred advertisements per day. Out of these advertisements, roughly one out of eleven is based off of a beauty product that will feature a model. School can prove to be a significant source of pressure when it comes to self image, and when coupled with the messages sent to us by the media, it’s no wonder that eating disorders pervade our culture. Youths have the unique problem of being both impressionable and cruel, and when someone is teased about the appearance of their body, the likelihood of an eating disorder may become more and more evident.
Eating Disorders
While you may think that eating disorders aren’t altogether present in our culture on a large scale, you may be shocked to hear the findings of studies. One showed that a full one out of seven college-aged females has a problem with bulimia, and one out of a hundred has a problem with anorexia. These problems clearly aren’t going away, and in order to be treated, psycho-therapy is often necessary. The problems are deeply rooted on a psychological level, and counseling and therapy are often the only solutions when one is afflicted with an eating disorder. One out of every ten people who suffer from an eating disorder will die due to the damage that the disorder does to their body. To that end, it is a very serious problem within our society that should be seriously examined. The media should be more responsible when it comes to the images that are placed upon our impressionable younger generations.