Tyra, Britney, Elle, Gwyneth, Pamela. You’ve seen them so often. As a man, do you wish all the women walking around looked like them? As a woman, do you wish your body type matched theirs?
The pressure put on women as they stare at the slim backs and shoulders, flat stomachs, abundant chests, slight hips, and sultry legs leaves them insecure. Society’s constant battle against weight, particularly for young women, leaves them over-exercising, under-eating and mentally tried.
About three-fourths of the way through my workout on the cross-training machine in the Rec-Plex, I glanced over at the display of the machine next to me. I did not know the woman using the machine, but she was obviously a student. She had a towel covering the display, and I was slightly annoyed. She was on the machine at least ten minutes before I got on, and as I came up on the 25 minute mark, I knew she was well over this limit set for the machines.
Sweat was pouring from her body, and she was breathing hard. Still, her skinny legs showed no signs of slowing. With about two minutes left in my workout, she lifted the towel momentarily. She had been on the machine for almost 45 minutes. I watched as she routinely moved to other machines that day, damn near dehydrating herself before she dropped to the mats for her abdominal workout.
I was momentarily impressed; I scolded myself for not having that much dedication. Yet, as I looked at her tired eyes as she pulled on her sweatshirt, they did not hold the satisfaction I would expect after such a hard, complete workout. I could tell she wasn’t working out to be in shape; she was working out to be thin. The exhaustion in her eyes made me wonder if she would ever be satisfied. Her case is not rare.
In high school, my best friend had a cute figure. She was president of the class and held a solid grade point average. She was close with her mother, who was a nurse, as well as her father, who was a successful businessman. Everyone enjoyed her company and witty comments, but she had few boyfriends.
Junior year, she began to lose her round cheeks. She cut the carbohydrates from her diet, and increased her daily exercise. She cut the meat from her diet. Within a matter of weeks, she hardly ate vegetables; she ate fruit because fruits are almost entirely water. She drank over a gallon of water a day.
In a few short months, the friend I knew disappeared. Her skin turned yellowish, her eyes were slightly sunken in and always had dark circles under them, her figure was down to bones, her hair was thin and falling out, and her breath constantly smelled. Standing 5’3,” she dropped from 127 lbs to 86 lbs. Her case is extreme, but exemplifies what countless young women go through on a smaller scale on a daily basis.
It is safe to say that almost every woman at Fairfield University has questioned the beauty of her figure at one time or another. First year students are bombarded with the words “Freshmen 15,” and “Don’t worry, most girls usually lose it.”
But as they look around “J. Crew U” at all the beautiful people dressed in their fitted attire and short skirts, are young women really supposed to be consoled by the fact that they will lose it eventually? Not when they walk into the rooms of their male friends and see Britney posters and models in tiny bathing suits, nor when they watch MTV to find the new sensation in less clothing and dancing even sexier than before. The mental trials are endless.
As they walk through Barone gathering food on their tray, young women worry whether or not what she is eating will be good for her body. A young woman will make sure she looks nice before going out at night and hopes to be noticed. At some point, she will compare herself to someone else and wonder if she is as attractive. The pressures are real. They are trying. They are frustrating.
The pressure put on women by society and its images leads to an incessant battle against themselves and nature to look like famous beautiful people. The struggle is one of heartache and physical denial.
The reality for most women is sad: they will bounce on yo-yo dieting and look in the mirror with dissatisfaction for most of their lives, never obtaining the figure they desire. With the ideal figure so well ingrained in the minds of women, it is difficult to foresee an end to the pressures.
The ideal bodies women are trying to emulate are the exceptions, not the norm; that is why they are famous.
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