Radio Station: 101.9 FM (Micheal Baisden) aired on March 9,2010
Despite our high rates of obesity, the United States is a nation obsessed with being thin. Eating disorders is a very common disease that takes a big tole over many young females life. Anorexia & bulimia both involves intense fear of being fat, but the person may be thin, normal in weight, or even overweight. Many actresses and models can wear a size 2 or 0. Some people are just naturally thin. However, I don't believe that most of Hollywood has lightening speed metabolism. Although, we love Mo'nique,Gabourey Sidibe, Queen Latifah, and Jennifer Hudson, they are the exception not the rule. The majority of Hollywood actresses don't look like them. I think magazines, television, and tabloids make bold and subtle statements about food. The tabloids are very bold with their opinions of overweight celebrities. For example, the tabloids constantly make fun of Kristie Alley, John Travolta, and Oprah Winfrey. I was in a grocery store today, and I noticed a tabloid with Lisa Marie Presley on the cover. The headline stated that she weighed 165lbs and she's only 5'3. She has gained a lot of weight, but is that really front page news? All of this proves that we are a nation obsessed with appearance. Some "regular women" aspire to be what they see in magazines, or on television. However, they fail to realize that these women don't really look like the images they present. The women on magazine covers look flawless, because of air brushing. They are pretty to start with, but with professional make-up artists, airbrushing, top personal trainers, expensive hair extensions, and sometimes surgery, they become stunning and flawless. We have cooking shows that show happy people cooking and eating. Some might argue that these shows promote eating as a way to fulfill a psychological need. We have magazines that emphasize healthy living and promote food as a biological necessity.
In my opinion, the messages that we receive about food from the media, explicit or implicit, are relative. For example, a woman who already has serious self-esteem issues about her appearance, maybe more sensitive to images in a fashion magazine. I don't think we should promote obesity. However,eating disorder is not the way to go if you want to be thin. I think the idea that beauty is different sizes, races, complexions, hair textures, hair colors, hair lengths, and ages should be promoted. In reading chapter 8 about Motivation and Emotion there was a section dealing with eating disorders. This section had a connection with the topic Eating Disorder that was talked about on The Micheal Baisden Show.
The obsession about ones appearrance in the United States is a very serious issue. Naturally everyone is their own worst critic, but some indivduals take it to the extreme. You may not notice the severity of this issue if you are not looking closely, but I promise it's there. Like Kenyetta stated above all you have to do is take a look at a magazine or show on television to see that the obsession to have a particular size, shape, and look is out of control. Personal appearrance is a huge deal with women and young girls...It's sad to see that the age of girls with eating issues keeps occuring amoungst younger and younger age groups. I think that is very important that parents take the time to talk to their children about healthy ways to stay fit and maintain high self-esteem so that they don't become just skin and bones. Take for example the very popular Heidi Montag Spratt of "The Hills" who is 23 years old and was beautiful just modified her body and risked her life to do so...She went through 10 different procedures because she felt less than perfect in LA.
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