HOW THE MEDIA PORTRAYS AVERAGE...

**Advertising and the media sometime portray women in a certain way that holds all women to a certain standard in society

In the world of modeling, a “normal” size female model is at least five feet ten inches and weighs around one hundred fifteen pounds with a bust size of thirty-four inches, a waist size of twenty-four inches and hips of thirty-five inches.  Now, the average American is more along the lines of five feet four inches tall and weighs about one hundred and thirty-two pounds.  They obtain the bust size of thirty-eight inches, a waist size of thirty-two inches and hips of forty-one inches.  These numbers go to show that models are not averaged sized Americans.  Models are the icon for many teenagers because they are the ones that are being photographed and placed in magazines that teenagers read. 

“I think women see me on the cover of magazines and think that I never have a pimple or bags under my eyes.  You have to realize that’s after two hours of hair and makeup, plus retouching. Even I don’t wake up looking like Cindy Crawford.”

-Cindy Crawford

Mannequins are normally the first thing people see when they walk into a clothing store. People see elegant clothes on mannequins that fit very well and that look good but, when they find that particular outfit, it doesn’t seem to fit quit the same way or look like it did when it was on the mannequin.  The average dress size is twelve where as the average mannequin size is a six.  Mannequins are for the most part perfectly engineered with proportional body parts (i.e. bust and butt).

Actresses lose weight to please the media and then their co-stars lose weight to keep up.  This cycle leads to thinner and thinner actresses that try to stand out and look the best for the media.  Celebrity trainers often recommend drastic diets that are not always healthy but make you lose weight rapidly.  In most types of media and advertisements, airbrushing is a technique that is used to make people look flawless. 

“The media creates this wonderful illusion-but the amount of airbrushing that goes into these beauty magazines, the hours of hair and makeup! It’s impossible to live up to, because it’s not real.”

-Jennifer Aniston, Vanity Fair, May 2001

 All of this chaos in the media paints deceiving pictures of what the average woman looks like.  Young America idolizes celebrities and models and views them as the "ideal" person.  This makes them take drastic measure to look and be like these people.  Seventy-nine percent of women think that their social life would improve if they were thinner.  Seventy percent of women believe that over weight people were generally seen as less intelligent and less attractive.  Sixty percent of women say that appearance is the biggest concern in their life.  Recently, more average sized people are being recognized and becoming famous.  Popular television shows like America's Next Top Model are recognizing "plus size" models and their importance to society.  Media viewing more average sized women as attractive and intelligent is the first step in helping young America's self-esteem.