Defining Beauty

“To loose confidence in one’s body is to lose confidence in one’s self.”

Simone De Beauvoir

There’s a quiet movement afoot that is silently eroding the female psyche. Today’s daughters of the confident and self-assured women who pioneered the feminist movement in the 1960’s-80’s are experiencing a setback in the hard-fought war on equality and women’s rights. Today’s adversary is more insidious, however, posing a serious threat to women’s self-esteem. Self-criticism and “lookism,” defined as obsessive concern with one’s outward appearance, are becoming epidemic. The Canadian Women’s Health Network reports that 90% of women are dissatisfied with their appearance in some way. 49% of girls ages 8-10 and 59% of girls ages 11-12 are concerned about being fat or overweight! In 2003, Teen magazine reported that 35 per cent of girls 6 to 12 years old have been on at least one diet, and that 50 to 70 per cent of normal weight girls believe they are overweight.

By the time a girl reaches 17 years old, she will have received over 250,000 commercial messages through the media. We live in a girl/woman-poisoning culture in which our media (our movies, T.V., advertising and music) depict women as idealistically beautiful and unrealistically thin. The pressure to be thin is taking its toll on a culture where the average model weighs 117 pounds and the average American woman weighs 164 pounds! “Girls developed eating disorders when our culture developed a standard of beauty that they couldn’t obtain by being healthy,” says Mary Pipher in her book Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls. “When unnatural thinness became attractive, girls did unnatural things to be thin,” she says.

The American research group Anorexia Nervosa & Related Eating Disorders, Inc. says that one out of every four college-aged women uses unhealthy methods of weight control—including fasting, skipping meals, excessive exercise, laxative abuse, and self-induced vomiting. Research also indicates that exposure to images of thin, young, air-brushed female bodies is linked to depression, loss of self-esteem and the development of unhealthy eating habits in women and girls.

Unrealistic standards of beauty call for unhealthy means to achieve them. This discrepancy between the real and ideal is so great that women and girls loose their optimism, their assertiveness and their energy. They trade in their authentic selves for false selves. In pretending to be whom they think others want, women are literally losing themselves to weight loss schemes and surgical procedures. The diet industry alone is worth anywhere between 40 to 100 billion (U.S.) a year selling temporary weight loss plans to a mostly female audience.

Women are also turning more and more to surgical and non-surgical procedures to purchase self-confidence. In 2008, there were over 10.2 million surgical and non-surgical plastic surgery procedures performed in the U.S. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) estimates that more than 330,000 cosmetic procedures were performed on patients 18 years of age or younger in the U.S. in 2005, compared to approximately 14,000 in 1996. Make no mistake; the cosmetic, fashion and diet industries know exactly what they are doing: feeding on women’s insecurities and creating unhealthy needs. Women’s magazines are full of articles and advertisements promising that if you can just lose those last twenty pounds, you will have it all—the perfect marriage, loving children, great sex, and a rewarding career. By presenting an ideal difficult to achieve and maintain these industries are assured growth and profits. And it’s no accident that youth is increasingly promoted, along with thinness, as an essential criterion of beauty.

All this leaves women in a state of crisis about their self-esteem. But, there is hope. One company, Dove with its Campaign for Real Beauty has made a significant impact on beauty stereotypes. Their thought-provoking ad campaigns and confidence building programs, such as the Dove Beauty Workshop for girls ages 8-12, are redefining standards of beauty. Just as knowledge is power, women and girls can greatly benefit from consciousness-raising campaigns like that of Dove’s. Intelligent resistance keeps the true self alive.

Change is also taking place on the fashion runways. In 2006, when 5 fashion models died from eating disorders in quick succession, and the world took notice. The public outcry from the death of these five young models put the fashion industry in the spotlight and on the hot seat.  Immediately after the models' deaths, Madrid Fashion Week stated their refusal to allow anyone with a BMI of less than 18 to participate in runway events. London and Milan Fashion Weeks have imposed similar statues. In Brazil, models now require medical certificates proving their physical health to take part in catwalk events.

However, the greatest change can come from you alone. Think about how you define beauty. Make positive self-talk your mantra. Banish negative thoughts, like “I have no willpower” or I’ve always been fat.” Be a model (not a runway model, but an inspiration!) of positive self-esteem and confidence. Teach your daughters to love their bodies. Accept compliments with grace and gratitude. Feel great about yourself by investing in yourself, like making time for exercise and for making healthy meals. Be bold-confidence comes from trying new things so put yourself out there!  Write down a list of things that you have accomplished and are proud of. Next time, your confidence is waning, pull out the list and remind yourself of how unique and amazing you really are! Finally, raise your level of consciousness every time you encounter a media message. Look for a Dove “realbeauty” workshop for girls in your community. Visit www.dove.ca and “Campaign for Real Beauty.”