User:Kirstan92/sandbox

Societal Pressure
Pressure from society to be thin is considered to be a major contributor to the high levels of body dissatisfaction and eating disorders in young women. Those who have internalized the thin ideal have developed the opinion that thinness comes with positive attributes such as happiness, desirability, and status. The media promotes this thin ideal and often leads to an unhealthy level of thinness. The images of women who are visibly underweight have the ability to affect the ideal. The thigh gap may demonstrate the thin ideal, for a thigh gap means skinnier thighs. A study found that 99% of Playboy centerfolds from 1980 to 1996 and 100% of Miss America pageant winners from 1953 to 1985 were underweight according to Canadian Weight guidelines, and 29% of centerfolds and 17% of pageant winners had a body mass index of less than 17.5 which is a criterion for anorexia nervosa. Women are socialized early into learning that their bodies should be used to attract others to them. The body size of models is often more than 20% underweight, and 15% underweight constitutes to a diagnostic criterion for anorexia nervosa. It stands to reason that women are likely to experience body dissatisfaction, low self-esteem and even eating disorders if they internalize and strive for a beauty ideal that is thin and probably unattainable. While appearance ideals and pressures do exist for men also, they are less likely to lead to negative psychological effects because images of male beauty are not as radically different from men’s actual body size and proportions. Male identity is also less defined by appearance compared to women.