Body Image

Arizona Daily Wildcat

Recent media suspicion over whether Calista Flockhart is anorexic (which she denies) has created a buzz around the entertainment industry. Apparently people are finally starting to take notice of the ultra sleek physique that women in entertainment (especially TV and magazines) embody.

The trend has even hit music. Last week Celine Dion denied suspicions that she suffers from an eating disorder, claiming that a fast metabolism is the culprit as to why her internal organs are visible through her clothes.

As these celebrities quell rumors concerning their skeletal forms, the suspicions have been fully realized by others who admit to having battled one type of eating disorder or another.

Christina Ricci, Kate Winslett, Ginger Spice, Kate Moss, Lucy Lawless (yes, even Xena) and Billy Bob Thorton have all admitted to battling different types of eating disorders.

Even though these celebrities have admitted to having battled an eating disorder, countless others in print ads, movies or TV have failed to step out and recognize that they MUST obsess over weight in order to look the way they do. They may not think they have a problem, but all one has to do is glance at them to know that they do. Unfortunately, recent data shows that celebrities aren't alone.

Studies show that an estimated 8 million people suffer problems connected to eating disorders. Also, the common myth that eating disorders only effect women is completely false, with at least one of those 8 million individuals being men.

Increased media attention on the ideal male physique is causing a greater dissatisfaction with body-image amongst men. With glossy cover shots on magazines such as Men's Fitness and Men's Health, and shows like Baywatch (which is body image hell for both men and women alike), men lately have tasted what women have gone through for years.

Yes, perhaps it is about time that men feel the kind of body image pressure that women have felt for so long: what it's like to feel they have to be thin, muscular, hairless and blond. Yet, does it really help eradicate body-image consciousness if men must suffer along with women? It does not, instead creating couples who work-out together, self-tan together, highlight their hair together, get waxed together. Ugh.

Eating disorders don't always have to be as dramatic as the more serious cases such as anorexia or extreme bulimia. Chronic dieters also suffer extreme mental anguish over how they look and how others perceive them.

Studies show that nine of every 10 women on college campuses has dieted. Unfortunately for chronic dieters, 95 percent will regain their lost weight within five years, ensuring the longevity of an angst-filled relationship with food.

The current trend for women to be waif-like and men to be more and more obsessed with vanity says much about what our society thinks is important. Superficiality is the budding fruit of our materialistic tendencies. Now, it is not only important that people buy beautiful things, but that they look as beautiful as the things they buy.

Individuals make themselves into objects by allowing the unrealistic depiction of the way people look in print and on TV sway them into becoming tanning-bed freaks and highlight-haired mop-tops. What's worse is that everyone knows someone who is obsessed with the way they look, and most of those, no matter what they do, will never achieve the look they want. Theirs is a problem with low self-esteem, the problem at the root of every eating disorder.

Whether male or female, comparing yourself to people around you is not only natural, but inevitable. What we can do is be more selective as to who we want to emulate, when we do make comparisons. When comparing yourself to someone who is obviously a complete fabrication, something is wrong. A friend you admire, a brilliant professor or an award-winning author are individuals who are positive role models, not the fake blonde bimbo size two jokes we're supposed to find something of ourselves in. If you do strive to attain the "look," you're setting yourself up for a future filled with self-hated inadequacy. Many live that future today.