Even if your TV watching is non existent and you restrict your reading to actual literature and keep away from Cosmo, being blind and deaf would be the only way to avoid the media and it's messages. For parents, even the drive to school has billboards headlining makeup and unattainable body shapes. However, like many women's issues, it is the double standard that we cannot escape.
While anorexia is an identifiable mark on our societies obsession with thin, another contingency has arisen bashing everything skinny. Post claiming "thin girls are like jeans with no pockets, you don't know where to put your hands," are covering the internet. Those with smaller breasts and narrower hips are accused of being "unwomanly." This attack perpetuated by other WOMEN is keeping body image purely sexual rather than allowing every body time being beautiful when it's healthy. Thinner girls are guilty of the same crime. These girls will brag about their diets and losing three pound yesterday, and everyone praises them for it!
I think health educators have a tough job ahead of them. I think their only real foot hold has been the rise of the health nut. The notion that "strong is sexy." This still puts the praise in sexy, but it's a better spin. Educators can point to a lot of role models who are keeping themselves in shape. Michelle Obama's arms are a statement all on their own. Unfortunately there is a thin line between health nut and over controlled eating disorder. It may not be the best option, but it's at least a start.
The media monster has been hard at work the past few years. The war between skinny and shapely have ensured no one is happy with what they have. Skinny is still dominant, but the critiques have started piling up. Everyone loses here. We attack each other when we should be embracing the wonderful genetic gifts. Some magazines like In Style have started running pieces on flattering any body type. It's not perfect, but it is a small shed of hope that someone else has our body type and can make it work.
