The American Obsession with Bodily Perfection free essay sample

The American Obsession with Bodily Perfection America is a growing and changing nation, but one characteristic has outlasted the years. The obsession for a socially-accepted body, whether it be wearing a corset, being big and voluptuous or, for men, being muscular and lean, has always existed. The culprit, a negative body image, now haunts approximately eight million people across the United States and is beginning to seep into more American minds as the â€Å"Perfect† disease spreads (Davis 8). In the past decade, the pressure to have â€Å"the perfect body† has dramatically increased in America; every individual in this nation has a different view of what â€Å"the perfect body† actually is, and many people who are seeking it are willing to take radical measures, like suffering from an eating disorder or turning towards cosmetic surgery to erase the imperfections of their body they believe exist. Quests for â€Å"the perfect body† in the past few years have increased in both males and females. We will write a custom essay sample on The American Obsession with Bodily Perfection or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Women are pounded with media every day telling them, â€Å"thin is in† or â€Å"thinner is better,† but in reality, achieving this â€Å"ideal† body is sometimes impossible and unhealthy to obtain (Davis 12). Ten billion dollars a year is spent by the American population to look â€Å"ideal† and lose weight (Kuberskey 19- 20). In fact, â€Å"ideal weight† has varied in America from one generation to the next. Marilyn Monroe was curvy and voluptuous in one decade and, in another, Kate Moss began the thin epidemic, but both for their time period were ideal. The information stating that thin is beautiful sparks from the media, for female celebrities are usually portrayed on the television or in magazines without flaws. What many young women do not understand about television and magazines is the art of digital body contouring. All models or celebrities have imperfections, yet in pictures or digital images the editor airbrushes over them, creating a look of perfection. Sadly, these false statements and images affect teenage girls, the main readers of these magazines and viewers of these television shows (Davis 21). Teenage years are when girls find out who they are, and up and coming teenage girls have now been taught that being slender is the only accepted bodily form (Kuberskey 15-16). According to Brangien Davis, â€Å"Advertisers in the beauty and fashion industries make it seem that if we don’t strive for the beauty ideal, we won’t be successful or happy in life† (13). In the advertiser’s minds, the only thing that matters is that beauty sells (Davis 21). Because of these pressures to look beautiful and sophisticated, a negative body image tends to affect females rather than males. Girls define themselves by their appearance, yet boys define themselves by their abilities, therefore, men wish to be lean and muscular. For this reason, men are not immune to the quest for bodily perfection; no one is (Davis 15). These quests for perfection are usually undetectable in men, for men do not speak about their obsession because they fear being embarrassed or looking feminine. Males are subconsciously influenced by muscular heroes like GI Joe, muscle and fitness magazines, or even male models (Kassar). These men with body issues believe they are not muscular or lean enough and fear gaining weight. These secretly infatuated men are beginning to show their obsessions in our everyday lives just as commonly as women show their obsessions. Men’s fascinations with the perfect body are sometimes more dangerous than women’s fascinations, for men use drugs like anabolic steroids to gain muscle and become â€Å"ideal. † They work out excessively and use Creatine to increase muscle tone and, deceivingly, look toned and healthy, although their body is suffering (Kassar). Dr. Brian Kassar believes that â€Å"In men’s perspective if you are thin, muscular and ‘virile,’ you will be personally and sexually fulfilled. † To have â€Å"the perfect body,† weight is obviously a major concern to the minds of these fanatical people. They develop, sometimes after Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, eating disorders such as Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa and Disordered Eating. Other causes of eating disorders include media, celebrities, models, advertisements, child abuse or wanting complete control over oneself (Kuberskey 28-30). Young people from their early teenage years to mid- twenties are especially susceptible to these eating disorders, for advertisements, television shows, and magazine articles are targeted towards people in this age group (6). Eating Disorders are most commonly heard about on the television, for, in Hollywood, celebrities are accused, every day, of having an eating disorder. Because of a common misconception that celebrities are the only individuals that suffer from these mental illnesses, many people do not realize that it exists all around them. It is estimated that sixty-two percent of teenage girls and twenty eight percent of teenage boys have been on diets, and many of these teens have used dangerous methods to lose weight (6). The most common eating disorder is Bulimia Nervosa. This disease is a modern disease, for it was recently, in the past two or three decades, discovered (Kuberskey 41-46). Bulimia is extremely hard to detect but dangerous, for people with this mental illness are not extremely thin, as they are with Anorexia, and may look healthy on the outside while suffering internally. Because the two most common characteristics of Bulimia are binging, eating a large amount of food in a short amount of time, and purging, regurgitating the food after swallowed, it is extremely harmful to the digestive system. It erodes the esophagus, gums and teeth and, also, disturbs the heart rhythm (Kuberskey 41-46). Purging comes in many forms including using laxatives, water pills or diet pills, exercising excessively, and fasting prior to binging. Bulimia is often carried by a sufferer along with a secretiveness and shamefulness about binging and purging (Segal). The second most common eating disorder and, also, the deadliest is Anorexia Nervosa. The mortality rate for Anorexia Nervosa is the highest of any mental disorder (Jerome). Anorexia, for short, is the refusal to keep a healthy weight for one’s height, body type, age and activity level (Segal). This illness is developed when people take the new â€Å"Diet Fad† too far and began to starve themselves to get their desired results. They spend every moment worrying about food, and the worst and most feared feeling an anorectic can experience is the sensation of being full. They exhibit an overwhelming fear of getting fat and have an extreme concern about body weight and image. Warning signs of Anorexia are extreme weight loss, dry, pale skin, brittle hair and, for females, a loss of menstrual periods (Kuberskey 36-40). A third type of eating disorder is Disordered Eating, EDNOS, which is extreme food restriction and weight management. Forty to fifty percent of women are considered disordered eaters (Natenshon). Some characteristics of being a disordered eater are chewing food and then spitting it out without swallowing it and binging and purging irregularly (Segal). Natenshon states the following information that could prevent one from becoming a disordered eater: 1. Dieting is the worst way to lose weight. 2. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so eat it! . Fat free eating is not healthy. 4. Excessive behavior about food is unhealthy (Natenshon) Disordered eating is not as controlling as a real eating disorder like Anorexia or Bulimia, yet it may lead to one. A looming question floats around in many minds after they have been educated or taught about these mental diseases: Do sufferers from eating disorders ever completely recover? Fellow student Sarah Darby, whom was affected, or par tially still is affected, by Anorexia believes one never really recovers from eating disorders. She states the following: NO, I do not believe Anorexia or other eating disorders are something that you ever recover from. I was diagnosed with Anorexia, and I will never be able to look at a slice of pizza without searching for the grease or devour a cookie without calculating the calories. With every glance in the mirror, I perform an evaluation of my size and body, but life goes on. Without this illness I would not be me (Sarah Darby Interview). As one can see, these weakening diseases always lurk inside their carriers, and are always, in the back of their minds, saying â€Å"NO,† to food. Many people support this opinion, yet others like the Renfrew Center, whom help the eating disorder sufferers, believe it can be cured and work every day to prove it can happen. The Renfrew Center, and its many branches of business, is a forty bed facility for women where each one undergoes therapy for their self-specific eating disorder; these clinics can run up to $1,500 a day. At this rehabilitation center the patients take part in individual, art, dance and therapy sessions as well as weigh-ins, room checks and closely monitored meals. Staffers watch the sufferers like a hawk, making sure they follow all of the strict rules (â€Å"Dying to be Thin†). With the increase in eating disorders, many mental and medical treatments have been developed to try and help these mental patients recover. Some mental treatments include Individual therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, Family and Group Therapy, and even Online Support Groups. Medical treatments also exist; they include antidepressants, dietician and nutritionist help, naturopathy, acupuncture, aromatherapy and mediation and homeopathy (Segal). Change me†¦Fix me†¦Make me perfect,† is a quotation that specifically describes the mentality of many American citizens in the modern day world, and it is set permanently in these perfectionist’s minds. Plastic and cosmetic surgeons are making millions of dollars because of this American thought. In the year 2002 liposuction was preformed most frequently with 372,831 patients, and it was followed closely by the number of breast augmentations and reductions with approximately 350,000 patients. Cosmetic surgery is ultimately a 7 billion dollar industry containing procedures such as liposuction, breast augmentations, face lifts, and anti- aging treatments (Gail). With obesity rates skyrocketing in America, particularly in the South, a procedure called liposuction has increased considerably. Women are extremely susceptible to this â€Å"fat erasing† epidemic because, as Kendall Hamilton and Julie Weingarden say, â€Å"We, women, want fullness where we are flat and flatness where we are full. † This extremely invasive and, also, particularly expensive procedure definitely has more cons than it has pros (Rollins). Liposuction has the ability to make a patient extremely attractive, boost a patient’s self-esteem and lower a patient’s body weight, but this person must be psychologically stable, physically healthy, emotionally realistic and within fifteen percent of their ideal body weight (Gail). There is also, like in many surgeries, the death factor to consider. Although death is uncommon, approximately one patient dies every 5,000 procedures, and it is still a major risk and should be taken very seriously (Jerome). After liposuction an excess of skin may be left behind or the patient may be lumpy where they where suctioned. This drawback of liposuction is common, and it may lead to other surgeries, such as tummy tucks or even more liposuctions, which are used to fix these additional mistakes (Gail). â€Å"The Boob Epidemic†, as it is referred to by Cosmopolitan journalist Melissa de la Cruz, is characterized as flocks of teenage girls â€Å"racing† to cosmetic surgeons on a quest for a larger, perkier chest. The number of women eighteen years old and younger that had breast augmentations from year 2002 to year 2003 rose from 3,872 patients to 11,326 patients. In total, 250,000 women received a breast augmentation. Many factors have contributed to the increase in breast augmentations. New and improved implants are being made out of saline instead of silicone, for if saline implants leak, the body can absorb the saltwater, whereas, if silicone implants leak, the body is overcome with silicone poisoning, which is extremely toxic. In the media, celebrities are often seen with large breasts which are often enhanced by breast augmentation surgery. When young female adults see these big busted actresses all over the television it peaks their interest and may make them want to receive this unneeded surgery (de la Cruz). Also, during the past few years a way to undergo a decreased recovery time and have a less visible scar has been discovered. Instead of making the incision around the nipple of the breast or underneath the breast, it is being made under the arms; this reduces the appearance of scars and lessens the recovery time from three weeks to less than one week. As with liposuction, breast augmentations have more disadvantages than advantages. These implants may leak, sometimes, causing the patient to get them removed or replaced. This procedure can also alter muscle development, cause rippling skin near the breast, become rock hard from calcification, cause silicone poisoning and , if received before proper mature age, cause psychological problems. â€Å"Almost twenty percent of breast implant patients decide to get them removed within five years† (de la Cruz). As America and its’ inhabitants age, the search for â€Å"the Fountain of Youth† is never ending, but in place of this fictional fountain of restoration is anti- aging treatments which have become all the rage for women over forty years old. When women hit their thirties and forties their skin begins to sag and wrinkles begin to emerge, which look nothing like the youthful images of older women that are portrayed on television (Gail). These women seek treatments such as Botox injections which have made a steady increase in the past ten years and continue to climb every day (â€Å"Face- lifting and Other Facial Plastic Techniques†). Also, there exist other noninvasive treatments, such as chemical peels, microdermabrasions, laser hair removals, and collagen injections. The procedures like Restylane, CosmoDerm, Cosmoplasts, and human collagen injections all spawn from the thought behind Botox injections; all of these operations are quick to perform, keeping the patients returning for more (Barrett 85). Botox injections are the most popular cosmetic procedure in America with almost 1. 6 million recipients in the year 2002. This shot was originally used by physicians to calm their patient’s twitchy eye muscles, but it is now used for many reasons including the reduction of wrinkles, the main reason, and the elimination of migraine symptoms. This physician injects Botox in the problem spots of the face, freezing nerve impulses and making the face void of expression. Patients, after this muscle paralyzing procedure, cannot frown, squint, raise their eyebrows, or show any sign of disappointment or excitement. Botox, also, is a diluted poison and, if not thoroughly diluted, it may cause botulism, a sometimes fatal form of food poisoning. Other complications this injection of vanity may promote are the loss of ability to raise one’s eyebrows all the way, the excess of drooling due to paralysis of the mouth and the permanent loss of facial expressions. Also, this procedure cannot cure all wrinkles, for some naturally emerge and some are actually caused by the position of certain muscles under the skin. So, as Michael D. Lemonick states, â€Å"Botox isn’t a cure-all, and it has some pretty odd side effects. But if you don’t mind getting shot up with poison and you don’t mind paralyzing parts of your face—well, you’ve got plenty of company. † How do we stop all of these radical quests for â€Å"the perfect body? † What is â€Å"the perfect body? Everyone’s idea is different, and, unfortunately, unless this idea of perfection and vanity is stopped in the minds of small children and teenagers, it will grow as they do until it reaches the point of explosion. Narcissism, I believe, is the root of all evil and until American citizens respect their own body and embrace themselves, this epidemic will live forever. Americans want the impossible, what they cannot have, and it is beginni ng to show that they will do anything in their power to reach what they believe is perfection.