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3 Ways to Stay Sane In An Insane Weight World

Kim Kardashian’s curves, Kendra Wilkinson’s abs, Giselle’s post-baby bod – these are some of the latest “top stories” to hit the magazine covers in recent months. With a growing model/celebrity-driven media – think TMZ, People, US Weekly, Page Six)– not to mention the 24/7 buzz of the Internet – we face a daily onslaught of celebrity ‘body’ news.  Open a magazine or flip on the TV and you’ll find feature articles or full-blown discussions over a pound gained here, baby weight lost there, sculpting, toning, and my all-time favorite — the inside scoop on the ‘cellulite of the stars’!  Yikes!

I am a realist.  I know we live in a highly visual world.  Often people (especially women) are judged as much by their physical appearance as by their capabilities or personality.  I don’t expect our cultural fascination with beauty (however beauty is defined) to fall out of favor anytime soon.  Nor do I think that the occasional perusal of a fashion magazine or gossip site is inherently bad.  But is there a downside to this body and weight obsession?  Are we putting our health at risk – mental as well as physical – by continually focusing on size and shape and buying into an esthetic ideal (something under Size 4, if not Size 2!) that is not attainable for most women?

I was curious to see what the scientific literature says about the impact this ‘body blitz’ might be having on women.  In the last decade, researchers have tried to understand the relationship between media images, body satisfaction, and even eating behaviors.

The findings are fascinating… and in many cases consistent.  In one meta-analysis (using data from 25 studies), researchers found that body image was significantly more negative after viewing thin media images than after viewing images of either average size models, plus size models, or inanimate objects. And dozens more studies have concluded that media exposure does have an impact on body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness, as well as disordered eating, particularly for teens and young adults.

I’m not suggesting that we should all throw out our fashion magazines, stop reading People, or eliminate TMZ from our channel surfing.  Sometimes looking at fashion and celebrities can simply be fun — or at least a mindless way to pass the time on a long flight. I think that what’s important here is that we learn to become critical consumers of the media and put the images that we see into what I like to call a “perspective filter”.  First, know that much of what we see is big business.  Simply put: when it comes to advertising and celebrity imagery, someone is usually trying to sell you something.  Most likely they are using manipulated photos and fairy tales to do it.  Recently I saw a fragrance ad on TV featuring a gorgeous couple on some dreamy island paradise wearing very skimpy swim attire.  Just as this beautiful twosome was about to share ‘a moment’, they cut to a close up of the perfume.  The takeaway: wear this fragrance you’ll not only be hot, you’ll have a smokin’ hot sex partner.  There are a million examples of this sort of advertising.

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