Follow-Up: Responding to Aridelle's Post 10/21/10

I found "Body Projects" by Joan Brumberg to be the most interesting article because I could relate to it. All throughout highschool, I had witnessed females struggle with their bodies and their own images of themselves in order to avoid criticism from other students and attract attention from boys. In order to fit the modern day image of the attractive female body (Big breasts, tiny stomach), most of my friends would work out daily and barely eat, one of whom did 200 crunches every day. Below is a picture of one of the girls at my school, who went to the gym every day, tanned regularly, and refused to eat more than half of a normal sized meal at lunch:

As Brumberg discusses in her article, the ideal female body expectations have drastically changed over the years. According to this website: (http://www.thesite.org/healthandwellbeing/wellbeing/bodyimageandselfesteem/bodyimagetimeline)

, the ideal body image "During the Victorian era...was plump, fleshy, and full-figured." It blows my mind how drastically expectations for female body images have changed due to social norms and stigmas. If someone does not fit these norms, they are constantly criticized for the way they look, and it is very hard for most people to look past the "flaws" that our society has characterized as unattractive. Many women, especially teenagers, struggle to attain perfect and unrealistic bodies, and let the obsession of doing so consume them. I think that the expectations that society has set for females are unattainable and extremely critical, and are having a negative impact on the everyday lives of women.