Dying to Be Skinny

Dying to be Skinny

Twelve-year-old, 120 pound Amanda looks approvingly at her tall, skinny mom and says, "I'd rather be dead than be fat." Her pigtailed nine year old sister, Katie, shouted, "I want to be just as skinny as Nicole Richie!" Their beautiful blonde hair mother looks down at both of them with big blue eyes and says, "Then you girls better start eating less, and that means no more cookies, gummy bears, French fries, or ice-cream." Whispering in Amanda's ear, her mother quietly continued, "Honey, you're going to be in high school next year; if you want to make the cheerleading squad you better lose a few pounds to keep up with the skinny girls."

These types of mother-daughter conversations are a typical part of many American families. Let's face it, American woman are obsessed with weight. Everyday we see hundreds of advertisements on TV and billboards, and in magazines and newspapers with 110lb gorgeous models. Sadly, images of women are typically based on what they look like, not what they have done in the world. Calista Flockhart, Mischa Barton, Sienna Miller, Kate Moss, Lindsay Lohan, and Keira Knightley all have two things in common; they are rail-thin and undeniably famous. These models and movie stars are role models to many young women. To mirror these celebrities, some girls will do anything to look as thin as their favorite star. Teri Hatcher, Eva Longoria, Nicolette Sheridan and the rest of the women of Desperate Housewives are raising the bar of slenderness for adult women as well. "Women have become obsessed with a culturally imposed idea that is unrealistic and unrealizable for the vast majority" (Stroller).

To keep up with these super-slender icons, millions of American women have developed eating disorders. The most popular eating disorders are anorexia nervosa (starving oneself) and bulimia (bingeing and purging). Women are suffering and dying from horrible illnesses everyday. A recent study found that eighty percent of fourth grade girls have already gone on a diet. Another survey found that seventy-five percent of young women perceived themselves as being fat, while in reality, a whopping twenty-five percent of these girls were actually underweight. In recent years, dieting, weight reduction drugs, fitness centers, and liposuction have exploded in popularity. "Over half of North American women are on a diet at any given time and they are happier