American Beauty Document Analysis

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Freelance writer Diana Vancura once said, “I’m not saying appreciating our looks is a bad thing. Our bodies are beautiful and we should appreciate it, but we also shouldn’t try to make ourselves all look “perfect” or obsess over our looks. There are lots of ways to be beautiful and I think it’s sad that the media seems to be telling us we need to have the “look” of the movement or we simply aren’t good-looking enough.” The issues that Vancura presents manifests itself most clearly in the institute of the American beauty pageant. In spite of the fact that beauty pageants can promote positive attributes they are simply judged on a fact of physical appearance. Even though there are some obvious benefits that can be presented in favor of pageants,…show more content…
We shouldn’t be teaching young women that if they don’t look a certain way they’re not good enough. These women who are published on the front page of magazines and models have a major influence on a girl's self esteem. In Aurianna Ojeda’s book Body Image there is a excerpt from Prevention Magazine stating, a “healthy weight” for a woman who is 5’9’’- which is the average height of a model is “supposed to have”- is 129 pounds to 169 pounds, but the average weight for a model with that height is 115 pounds. These women are certainly not beautiful just because of their weight; many women are just born naturally thin. There is no shame in that. But, those aren’t the only women that should be glorified. Magazines should have models of all races and sizes included in them rather than having separate magazines for different body types. There needs to be a balance of the standard body image that is projected in the media. Various body shapes can still represent the ideas of being healthy. Models are airbrushed daily in the media industry. There is not one model in a magazine or on a billboard that has not been “touched up” or photoshopped to society’s standards. Basically, as a society we should encourage women to be themselves and to feel comfortable with their own, unique beauty, instead of throwing images of computer-generated beauty queens in their faces (Body Image). Encouraging especially young women to be themselves…show more content…
Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are two major eating disorders many can develope. Anorexia nervosa, according to the Mayo Clinic, is defined as an eating disorder that causes people to obsess over their weight and the food they eat. Severals models and beauty pageant contestants struggle from anorexia. Kirsten Haglund, who was crowned Miss America in 2008, spoke out about how she had began dieting when she was 12 years old and that soon developed into a serious eating disorder, this eating disorder also lasted 3 years before she even got help (Mapes). Several boys and girls look up to their idols, or who they strive to be. When one is in the “spotlight” it is crucial that they maintain that role model character that young children look up too. When Haglund was growing up she wanted to be a ballet dancer, many ballet dancers struggle with eating disorders, and just like most young girls Haglund says she modeled her behavior after them (Mapes). As many know, ballet dancers are extremely thin, but starving oneself is not the healthy way to approach the situation. Exercising and eating right is what ballet dancers should enforce and speak out about for the health of the children that idolize them. After two years of nutritional therapy and counseling, Haglund became healthy and stable, she soon after that went on to compete in a local pageant to

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