Is there too much pressure on Woman to have the “perfect” body?
It’s a dream of every woman to beautiful and attractive to everyone. Beauty in women has been interpreted in a variety of ways. There those who say “beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.” In the Christian view, everyone is beautiful with the likeliness of God. During the Victorian era, beauty was defined by rosy cheeks, pale face, and big dark eyes. Since then, the definition of beauty in women have continued to evolve across eras. The most recent definition is that of having a “perfect’’ body. In this case, a perfect body is described as slim or skinny, flat stomach, thin waist, and general bottle-shaped body. Any woman with this type of body is considered beautiful and perfect. Women without this body shape feel insecure and consider themselves ugly, making them hate their looks and body. According to a survey conducted by Girl Guiding UK, over 40% of young girls aged between 7 to 21 years reported to be unhappy with their body and looks (Driscoll pp.13). Therefore, they are all trying to all they can to have these “perfect bodies.” In my opinion, I believe that there is too much pressure on women to have a perfect body. This pressure is escalating, especially from society, media, friends, families, and even our peers. To support my stand, this essay argues on why there is increasing pressure on women to have a “perfect body.” . Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
People tend to make fun and talk about other people bodies. People will link people with big bodies with overeating and being lazy. In the real sense, there is little correlation between overeating and big body. Most of these people with big bodies may have obtained them through genetics. Women with this type of body will, therefore, be pressured to take oppressive measures on how to streamline their bodies into “perfect body’’ (Goldman and Baller pp.86) Also, men have changed from selecting a woman to marry through love, but they have tended to prefer women with certain body shapes. This is also another source of women to have a “perfect body” so she can be selected by her ideal husband. Therefore, society is to blame for escalating pressure on women to have a “perfect body.”
Fashion brands and media is the other biggest culprits in the rising pressure for women to have a perfect body. Top fashion will go for models with the “perfect body’’ shape to advertising and their new fashions. Movies and television operas continuously hire women with perfect bodies, ideal physique, size zero figure, and fair skin (Want and Saiphoo pp.4). The worst part is that oversize women will be seen as ridicule, making it look like a sin or crime to be plus-size. This attitude is making most audience women develop the notion that only certain body shapes are perfect. Due to this, the oversize women will be pressured to try to reduce their body size in pursuit of that “perfect body.” Therefore, it’s true that media is creating pressure on women to have the perfect body shape.
From society to media, the last place where a woman would get pressure to get a perfect body would be from the family. But guess what? Families and especially mothers are pressuring their daughter to have an ideal body. The mother will keep reminding her daughter about weight gain and all other short of body-related concerns. It is not by surprise you will find a young girl being denied her favourite meal because it can make her an oversize. The primary concern for mothers here being the worry of her daughter not finding a perfect match due to her “imperfect body.” Thus, mothers will continuously pressure their girls to maintain that perfect body. Therefore, if girls can get pressure to maintain a perfect body from the family, you can now understand the pressure women have on maintaining a perfect body. Huge.
Lastly, married and dating women always try their best to remain perfect and beautiful for their husbands and boyfriends respectfully. In most cases, women are always insecure and do have a fear of losing their spouses when there is a change in body shape or looks. According to a survey conducted by America’s National Institute of health under National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), the number of women attending gym sessions and jogging in the parks have continued to rise significantly (Craft et al. pp.68). The findings also showed that, while men went to the gym for leisure, women have a specific goal of achieving and maintaining a “perfect body.” Thus, women have the pressure to keep their body for fear of losing their fiancées in case of becoming oversize. Therefore, the pressure to have a perfect body for their “loving” spouses is another support that it is true that women have too much pressure to maintain a “perfect body.”
In conclusion, I have always believed that there existed immense pressure on women to get the “perfect body.’’ Movies, music videos, beauty magazines, and TVs are filled with women and girls with “perfect bodies.’’ To make matters worse, I have seen baby dolls that are shaped in the same way with “perfect body.’’ This is a clear indication that oversize women have no space in beauty. However, despite this pressure, I think every woman, whether big or small, tall or short is beautiful in her own way. Secondly, beauty is when you accept yourself the way you are. Therefore, oversize women should accept themselves and instead of struggling to attain this “perfect body.” they should concentrate in healthy eating and doing routine exercise purposely for their health but not to have the so-called “perfect body.”
Work cited
Craft, Baine B, et al. “Gender Differences in Exercise Habits and Quality of Life Reports: Assessing the Moderating Effects of Reasons for Exercise.” International Journal of Liberal Arts and Social Science, vol. 2, no. 5, 2014, pp. 65–76, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5033515/.
Driscoll, Catherine. “Girls Today – Girls, Girl Culture and Girl Studies.” Girlhood Studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 1 Jan. 2016, pp. 12–14, 10.3167/ghs.2008.010103. Accessed 25 Apr. 2019.
Goldman, L., and Stephanie Baller. “Locker Room Diaries: The Naked Truth about Women, Body Image, and Re-Imagining the ‘Perfect’ Body.” Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal, vol. 17, no. 1, Apr. 2016, pp. 86–87, 10.1123/wspaj.17.1.86. Accessed 10 Oct. 2019.
Want, Stephen C., and Alyssa Saiphoo. “Social Comparisons with Media Images Are Cognitively Inefficient Even for Women Who Say They Feel Pressure from the Media.” Body Image, vol. 20, Mar. 2017, pp. 1–6, 10.1016/j.bodyim.2016.10.009. Accessed 1 Nov. 2018.