Discursive Essay

Have you successfully got ‘the look’ when you are so skinny that your ribs stick out? Is ‘size zero really the size that’s going to make us feel satisfied within? Is starving yourself really beautiful?   In a study of children aged 8-10 approximately 50 per cent of girls said that they were unhappy with their size. This is an on-going problem today in society. Studies state that the number of cases of children being admitted to hospital with eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia has increased by more than a third in the past ten years. And so I propose the question: is the world of fashion and media to blame?  
Nowadays the media has major influence on our everyday opinions and choices. Whether it’s how we dress, what music we listen to, what we eat or if we choose to eat at all. It’s everywhere. As well as this so called ‘perfect body’ image.
High profile women such as Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie have been blamed for portraying a ‘skinny is good’ message to their young fans.   I firmly believe that this is 100% the case. I mean in numerous fashion magazines these women are being commended for their ‘hot’ bodies. So many young girls reading these articles will think to their selves should I look like that? Or this is how I want my body to be.
In fact 60% of American girls admitted that magazines influence their ideas on that ‘beautiful’ body. Unfortunately the models we see in all popular magazines today are beginning to get thinner and thinner. Twenty-five years ago the average model weighed 8% less than the average women. Now this number has risen to a staggering 23%.
Modelling agencies have been reported to recruit anorexic models. In one case as shocking as it may seem model, Igna Radziejewski was turned away from a modelling audition because she was ‘too fat’.   And by their idea of fat they were referring to a size 00 model weighing just seven stone at the age of 21.
Furthermore, it’s not just the fashion world that’s the problem. Diet...