Pregnancy and motherhood require a great amount of physical and psychological strength. During pregnancy, the growing baby receives all its nourishment from the mother’s body, and when a woman’s stores are low, her body will drain them to support the growth and development of the baby.

The mother can become severely malnourished if the stores are not replenished through healthy eating habits.   This in turn can lead to depression, exhaustion and many other serious health complications.

Where do you start?

It can be very frightening ffor women with eating disorders to have to gain the necessary 25-35 to sustain a growing embryo.  Some women with disordered eating are able to more easily cope with weight gain during pregnancy because they see it as a sacrifice for an important cause. But others may plunge into depression at the idea of weight gain coupled with pre-existing body image issues. Most women with eating disorders fall somewhere between these two extremes.

The Relationship between Specific Eating Disorders and Pregnancy:

Women with anorexia nervosa risk having a baby with abnormally low birth weight and related health problems. Women with bulimia nervosa who continue to purge may suffer dehydration, chemical imbalances or even cardiac irregularities. Pregnancy heightens these health risks because of the additional demands of a woman’s body while she is gestating. Overweight women who are constantly fluctuating on the scale due to binge eating are at greater risk of developing high blood pressure, gestational diabetes and overgrown babies.

• Risks for the Mother: Poor nutrition, dehydration, cardiac irregularities, gestational diabetes, severe depression during pregnancy, premature births, labor complications, difficulties nursing, post-partum depression.
• Risks for the Baby: Poor development, premature birth, low birth weight for age, respiratory distress, other perinatal complications, feeding difficulties.

Advice for the new or prospective mother:

It is important to consult with your physician, counselors and/or registered dietician before attempting to get pregnant and reveal the truth to them if you have struggled with an eating disorder. It may become necessary to get “high risk” obstetrical care, but the risk of revealing personal struggles definately outweighs the risk of damaging a new life.  Doesn’t it?

REMEMBER: Eating healthy, well-balanced meals to maintain a healthy weight is essential to protect the health of yourself and your baby!

What if I Become Pregnant while Struggling with an Eating Disorder?

Struggling with an eating disorder may decrease the chances of pregnancy, however, should you become pregnant, steps should be taken to protect your health and that of your baby. Professionals can only help if you are willing to be completely honest with them about your struggles.

If you are pregnant and struggling with disordered eating…

• Be HONEST with your prenatal health provider regarding past or present struggles with an eating disorder or disordered eating.
• Make extra appointments if necessary to closely track the growth and development of your baby.
• Consult a nutritionist with expertise in eating disorders before or immediately after becoming pregnant and create a plan for healthy eating and weight gain.
• Continue to see her post-partum so that your return to a normal weight can be done in a healthy way.
• Consider getting counseling during and after pregnancy to help you cope with your concerns and fears regarding food, weight gain, body image and the new role of mothering.
• Attend a support group for people with eating disorders.
• If your doctor approves, attend a prenatal exercise class. It can help you practice healthy limits to exercising.
• Other classes on pregnancy, childbirth, child development and parenting skills can also be helpful in preparing to become a mother.
• Allow your prenatal health provider to weigh you. This information is essential to track the health of your baby. If you would prefer not to monitor your weight gain, ask your doctor about standing on the scale backwards.
• Under certain circumstances, for example if you suffer from severe depression or obsessive- compulsive problems, you may require medications for these conditions even during pregnancy.
• Get support from other mothers who may have struggled with the same issue. Cafemom.com has many forums for mothers to get support from other mothers.

Cross Cultural Issues

• Over the past few years, there has been much evidence found that contradicts the persistent belief that eating disorders affect only young, white women.
• One study conducted by Robinson et al (1996), found that among the leanest 25% of 6th and 7th grade girls, Hispanics and Asians reported significantly more body dissatisfaction than did white girls.  

Research and Reporting Bias

• Relatively little research has been conducted utilizing participants from racial and ethnic minority groups due to the historical bias that these types of body image issues predominantly effect young white girls and women.
• Nevertheless, what little research there is reports that incidences of eating disorders among women of color are on the rise. Some of this gain may simply reflect an increase in the reporting of these problems rather than actual increases.  

Acculturation Effects and Theories

• Some researchers argue that women from racial and ethnic minority groups are “immune” to developing eating disorders because their cultural identity provides some amount of protection against body image disturbances. For example, it is frequently stated that African-American culture embraces larger body types than does the dominant culture, thereby making Black women less prone to body dissatisfaction. This leads to the assumption that women of color experience acculturation or assimilation of dominant ideals, and explains why they become more susceptible to eating disorders.
• According to Kempa & Thomas (2000) the definition of acculturation is “the process of shifting values to the host culture from the culture of origin.” As this occurs, the dominant standards of beauty are internalized and women from minority groups adhere to standards similar to those of white women.
• One of the most prominent examples of acculturation are the many hair straighteners available to ethnic women for the purpose of making their natural texture appear more like that of the dominant culture.
• Some evidence regarding acculturation supports the idea that highly acculturated women are more vulnerable to eating disorders.
• Chamorro & Flores-Ortiz (2000) found that second-generation Mexican-American women, those born in the US to foreign-born parents, were the most acculturated and had the highest disordered eating patterns.
• Complexities in acculturation research do exist.  Some theorists state that vulnerability to an eating disorder may be affected by which stage of conformity a person is in.  Those in the early stages may internalize dominant values of beauty which could lead to eating disorders, while those in later stages may be highly sensitive to oppressive circumstances and subsequently develop eating problems to cope with these experiences and/or a rebellion against the dominant culture.
• Similarly, Lake, Staiger, & Glowiski (1999) support the “culture clash” argument, specifically in which “traditional” subjects (those with strong Chinese ethnic identity) were more influenced by western values than were the acculturated group members as a result of the stress related to “culture shock”.

Sociocultural Factors and Stress

• Contemporary theories regarding the development of disordered eating include sociocultural, environmental, and genetic factors that are applicable to all women, regardless of ethnicity.
• Sociocultural factors, including the pervasive media images that embrace a narrowly defined conception of beauty, may be particularly disturbing for some women, especially those furthest from the dominant ideal of beauty. 
• One study by Osvold & Sodowsky (1993) found that African-American and Native-American women who were more accepting of white American culture (acculturated) showed significantly more symptoms of anorexia and bulimia than did those who were less accepting.
• Women from racial and ethnic minority groups in the United States face substantially more stress resulting from their membership in multiple subordinate groups than that caused by acculturation alone.
• A 1996 study interviewed eighteen women of varying socio-economic status and race and found that eating disorders were frequently a response to environmental stress (i.e. abuse, racism, poverty). Therefore, given the multiple traumas that women of color are exposed to, they may, in fact, be more vulnerable to eating disorders.

A woman’s body image is often defined by her surroundings.  It isn’t difficult to make the transfer from a woman in the public eye to yourself in terms of what beauty should look like.  Young girls aren’t the only impressionable ones.  Even grown women tend to think that they can always improve upon what age and experience has done to them.  In ancient times, women strove to look like the goddesses that embodied perfection.  In the modern times, our gods and idols are those who entertain us, however odd that may sound.  So, it stands to reason that we would model ourselves after them. In fact, a large portion or our economy is banking on the fact that women the world over will continue to do so year after year.

People Magazine for the week of April 28th (when this page was published) has three ads for cosmetics in the first twenty-five pages.  All of them have actresses or singers as their spokespeople: Rihanna for Cover Girl, Carmen Electra for Max Factor, Reese Witherspoon for Avon…it goes on and on, and these are full page ads.  If the average female reader of People magazine had any doubt as to who the beautiful people of the world are, she might make an educated guess that these women are among them.

The entertainment world is filled with iconic figures, however, it has lately begun to show a more well-rounded perception of what it’s like to be a female.  Shows such as “The Biggest Loser” and “Dr. 90210″ show women the gamut of how to transform body image.  It is no longer necessary to remain as you’ve been born.  The two shows mentioned above are at opposite ends of the spectrum because one emphasizes getting in shape and healthy, while the other emphasizes surgical alteration as the way to change your body.  Nevertheless, both shows target the same demographic, women between the ages of 28 and 45, who may have lost youthful health and gained middle years bulk.  In fact, it is rare to find any form of mass entertainment, television, movies, magazines that doesn’t target women from this demographic.  These women are the consumers and often key decision makers for households across America.

The entertainment industry often rewards exhibitionism, and many reality TV stars have gone on to become stars in their own right, famous for being nothing other than a sensationalized version of themselves.  It is well known that whenever someone moves from real life into the realm of the entertainment world, they will somehow become larger than life with features in Us and People magazines as well as MySpace pages dedicated to them.  The women of MTV’s “The Hills” are a prime example of this.

Often, these reality TV stars are the truest window into what modern women have become.  Average women turned superstars have become one of the hallmarks of today’s entertainment industry.  Ideally, the message is that every woman can be as beautiful as she wants to be.

Some Basic Facts About the Media’s Influence in Our Lives:

• According to a recent survey of adolescent girls, the media is their main source of information about women’s health issues (Commonwealth Fund, 1997).
• Researchers estimate that 60% of Caucasian middle school girls read at least one fashion magazine regularly (Levine, 1997).
• Another study of mass media magazines discovered that women’s magazines had 10.5 times more advertisements and articles promoting weight loss than men’s magazines did (as cited in Guillen & Barr, 1994).
• A study of one teen adolescent magazine over the course of 20 years found that in articles about fitness or exercise plans, 74% cited “to become more attractive” as a reason to start exercising and 51% noted the need to lose weight or burn calories (Guillen & Barr, 1994).
• The average young adolescent watches 3-4 hours of TV per day (Levine, 1997).
• A study of 4,294 network television commercials revealed that 1 out of every 3.8 commercials send some sort of “attractiveness message,” telling viewers what is or is not attractive (as cited in Myers et al., 1992). These researchers estimate that the average adolescent sees over 5,260 “attractiveness messages” per year.

How meaningful are these words for many women today?  Women of this century have developed a much stronger and healthier image than women of previous generations.  However, society still has a powerful draw on the psyche of many young girls and women.  The psychology of body image impacts everything from the entertainment industry to fields of professionalism and trade.  A woman’s occupation, family, and very life are influenced by her self perception.  It isn’t easy to have conflicting messages pervading every aspect of life.  Today, a currently popular image, ” is that of the voluptuous sex goddess, such as some of the more popular female movie and television actresses. Large breasts are admired with this particular idealized image. Pornographic magazines and films play to this idealized image. And lastly, the top fashion model image, boyish and skinny. (Sanford, Donovan, 1984) No woman can strive for or live up to all three images at one time.”

Our society promotes contradictory norms for female sexuality as well as body image, and consequently, many women torture themselves by trying to become too thin or disengaging and becoming too fat. These women alternately starve or eat until their bodies and minds become too damaged to be sexually active at all.

“Every society has a way of torturing its women, whether by binding their feet or sticking them into whalebone corsets that are too tight. What contemporary American culture has come up with are tubular designer jeans.” (Yager, 1983)

We live in a culture that says women must be beautiful to be worthy, and then sets up impossible standards for female beauty that promote obesity or destructive thinness.  We are constantly bombarded with images of thinness and equal with beauty, happiness, prosperity, and even love.  According to fashion, large size, maturity, voluptuousness, massiveness, strength and power are not womanly traits, and therefore, are undesireable for all women to obtain. Girls in primitive societies used to stuff themselves because the fattest girl was the most beautiful and had the most wealth (obviously, if she had enough to eat, she was wealthy). Today’s world in contrast, revolves around gaining and maintaining control over one’s life.  It might be safe to say that American’s are obsessed with control and the need to control even one’s natural body shape can be dangerous. 

Television and advertising are at us constantly with the message to conform. “They provide visual reinforcement of our role in society and play on our psychological side for a need for approval, acceptance and a sense of belonging.”  Unfortunately, the images of ideal female roles are shown to us in excessive amounts and we are told that we should strive to meet these ideals, even if, for some of us, we were naturally born with opposing traits. 

The media advertisers teaches us to analyze ourselves in parts.  Body parts are advertised right alongside “miracle cures” that will improve said body part.  There are creams to remove cellulite, body hair and to make you younger, browner or lighter.  There are products to change your hair color or texture and those to keep you the same.  These advertisements reinforse a psychological tendency to analyze, accept or reject individual parts of our bodies. They also make it that much harder to be “perfect”.  “Within western society at the current time, the image of the beautiful female is one who is thin (Goldblatt, Moore and Stuckard, 1974) and perfect in every part.

The Tyra Banks Show recently ran a segment on body image and how women from different cultures percieved themselves and other body types.  When shown a thin profile of a woman, the African-American participant thought that she was anorexic and possibly poor or suffering from starvation.  The Asian participant, in contrast, saw her profile as elegant and feminine.  In contrast, when shown the profile of a full-figured woman, the African-American participant saw her as healthy and well-fed, perhaps wealthy as well.  The Asian participant saw her as lazy and obese.  There were also Latin-American and Caucasian participants.  For more information about the show, visit the Tyra Banks Show official site.

Quoted excerpts on this page are taken from “The Psychology of Ideal Body Image” by Barbara A. Cohen Ph.D unless otherwise noted.

Makeup and vanity sets are marketed to pre-school age children.  It can be argued that Barbie (with her makeup clad face and perfect figure) is the earliest programming tool for young girls.  The problem with most of these toys is that girls don’t really realize (until they are much much older) that they are being taught that there is something wrong with what they were naturally given.  They are also taught, by advertising, movies and the fashion industry, that men prefer a woman with makeup.  The truth is that most men prefer a woman with minimal to no makeup.

By Dr Stephen and Gina Antczak, authors of Cosmetics Unmasked have a lot to say about the cosmetics industry and some of the false claims that they make.

The Natural Products Marketplace website has some interesting information about so-called “natural” cosmetics and the scary products that are in them.

The cosmetics industry has taken to labeling things “natural”, “organic”, “mineral based” to keep with today’s current trend that favors natural products.  However, these labels do not always tell the truth and it’s important, as a consumer, to know what you are purchasing.

The FDA cosmetics page has information about regulations, recalls and certification for makeup additives, ingredients, color dyes etc.

Ultimately, the truth about cosmetics is that if you aren’t happy with who you are, no amount of makeup will change that.  It’s important for women to learn that the cosmetics industry isn’t always what it claims and that there are many people out there that can profit from those with low self-esteem.  Think back to the days of street peddlers that sold “miracle cures” that were so dangerous they sometimes poisoned people.  Today’s cosmetics industry has standards they must uphold because of the FDA, but pushing that aside, are they really so different?

In Hollywood where the pressure to stay thin is enormous, many women resort to unhealthy starvation tactics to maintain a BMI that is far below normal, but suitable for television and film.     Nearly every A-list actress has struggled with unhealthy body image at some point.  Magazines, talk shows and reality television all want to know what the stars do to maintain their figures.  When a woman is larger than the public believes she should be, she “doesn’t care about her image.”  When she is smaller, she, “has an eating disorder.”  So, though there is a small margin of acceptable size under the bright lights of Hollywood, there is definately an “acceptable size” that many argue may match the profit margin.  Skinnier is wealthier is today’s mantra according to some at the top of the earning scale.

Though the idea that appearance equates to wealth is superficial, it can be argued that our society does work this way, especially for women.  Since there is a retail market that appeals to nearly everything related to women and their bodies, there is also a very booming market that caters to women wanting to lose weight by dieting.  Here are the top five diets that work for many women in today’s society according to Consumer Reports.

The magazine rated the top five diets based on their nutritional value and effectiveness.

#5: The Atkins Diet

It’s a popular diet that’s successful for many, but there are drawbacks: It’s not a diet that people can stay on for a long time, and it’s not very nutritionally balanced.

#4: The Ornish Diet

 It’s heart-healthy and vegetarian.

#3: The Zone

This high-protein, high-fiber diet, has got the right amount of calories, and the short and long-term results are pretty good.

#2: The meal replacement Slim Fast Diet.

This diet relies on meal replacement shakes that give a feeling of fullness to help with cutting calories and cravings.

#1: The king of all weight loss plans, according to Consumer Reports, is the diet that took the Duchess of York from Fat to Fabulous: Weight Watchers.

For more information on these diets and others out there these days, see WebMD’s Health and Diet center.

It’s important, when evaluating diets and their effectiveness, to choose the one that’s best for you given your history of weight loss and gain, and your BMI.  The National Institutes of Health have a BMI calculator that allows you to calculate an appropriate weight loss goal for your age, height, and current weight.  Different diets work for different people and it’s crucial to make sure you don’t just choose a diet for it’s popularity, but for it’s long term benefits and reliability.

Dieting perils include any diet on which you eat fewer calories than you need to get through the day — like an 800-calorie-per-day diet, for instance. Diets that don’t allow any fat also can be bad for you. Everyone needs a certain amount of fat in their diet — up to 30% of total calories — so no one should eat a completely fat-free diet.

Beware of diets that restrict certain food groups also. A diet that requires you to say no to bread or pasta or allows you to eat only fruit is unhealthy. You won’t get the vitamins and minerals you need.  You may lose weight this way, but you’ll probably gain it back as soon as you start eating normally again.

The truth is, there are success stories related to almost any diet, and there are cautionary tales as well.  Research carefully to make sure that you have all the information you need before beginning any diet.  Also, know your body and its limits.  Know what is normal for you and what isn’t, so that you can recognize signs of a diet gone wrong.

The signs of Anorexia Nervosa include:

• Disinterest in maintaining normal body weight for age and height.
• Fear of being “fat” even though underweight in reality.
• Unrealistic view of weight or body shape and/or denial of the serious consequences of low body weight.
• Loss of menstrual periods post-puberty. 

While eating disorders seem to revolve around the control and/or loss of control surrounding eating behaviors, they are often about much more than that.  Many psychological, emotional, interpersonal, and social factors contribute to the underlying causes of eating disorders.

For many women and some men, eating disorders are a way to cope with otherwise overwhelming or painful emotions.  Food or control of food is a way to gain some control over one’s life or situations in which one might feel powerless or helpless.  The irony is that the behaviors and actions involved in an eating disorder often result in a loss of competence, control, self-esteem, emotional and most dramatically, physical health.

Some psychological factors that can contribute to eating disorders are: feelings of inadequacy or lack of control, low self-esteem, and depression, anxiety or loneliness.

Some interpersonal factors that can lead to an eating disorder are: a history of being ridiculed because of appearance or weight, troubled family relationships, and a history of physical or sexual abuse.

Some social factors that can contribute to an eating disorder are: cultural pressures that glorify “thinness” and having “the perfect body”, narrow cultural definitions of beauty, cultural norms that value people based on physical appearance rather than personality strengths.

You have a greater likelihood of developing an eating disorder and are more likely to suffer from feelings of depression, isolation, low self-esteem, and obsessions with weight loss if you have a negative body image.

You may have a negative body image if  . . .

• You percieve parts of your body unlike they really are.
• You are convinced that only other people are attractive.
• You feel ashamed, self-conscious, and anxious about your body.
• You feel uncomfortable and awkward in your body.

If you feel you may be suffering from negative body image and headed towards and eating disorder, follow these steps to improve your self image and be sure to seek information and help sooner rather than later!

Ten Steps to Improve Body Image

Some statistics about the differences between the sexes and percieved body image:

• In two large national surveys, women have reported greater body dissatisfaction than have men (Cash & Henry, 1995; Garner, 1997).
• Across all ages, women have reported being more concerned with body weight and appearance (Pliner, Chaiken & Flett, 1990).
• Moreover, women report experiencing more negative feelings when they are attentive to their bodies than do men (Franzoi, Kessenich, & Sugrue, 1989), they have a greater discrepancy between their ideal and actual body figures (Rozin & Fallon, 1998), and they tend to perceive themselves as larger or heavier than they actually are (Cash & Green, 1986).
• Adame and Frank (1990) found that among normal weight women (women who are neither medically underweight nor overweight), 61% perceived themselves to be overweight. In contrast, men, regardless of their actual weight, usually report more positive body images than do women (Demarest & Langer, 1996).
• Women tend to “feel” overweight much more than do men (Tiggemann, 1992), and men appear to be less obsessed with weight and becoming fat; therefore, pathogenic values related to eating and body size is lower among men (Akande, 1993).

Women are genetically and biologically predisposed to have a higher percentage of body fat than men.  This leads to a standard of thinness that is more extreme for women than for men (Rodin, Silberstein, & Striegel-Moore, 1984).  Consequently, there is a stronger relationship between body image dissatisfaction and self-esteem for women. In fact, Kostanski and Gullone (1998) found that being female and having low self-esteem lead to body image dissatisfaction among participants with healthy body weight.

When McDonald and Thompson (1992) examined reasons for exercising, they found that women exercised for more weight-related reasons than did men. In both males and females, exercising for weight, tone, and physical attractiveness was positively associated with body image dissatisfaction.  Conversely, exercising for health, enjoyment, and fitness was negatively related to body image dissatisfaction. Studying men and women who identified themselves as regular exercisers, Davis and Cowles (1991) found that men and women were equally dissatisfied with their weights; however, women wanted to lose weight while men were divided between those with a desire to lose weight and those who wanted to gain weight. Women were more dissatisfied with their bodies and were more likely to exercise to try to lose weight as compared to men. Thus, the motives for exercising may moderate how body image is affected by exercise participation.

These studies show that there is quite a gap in percieved body image for men and women.  Women and men also view the opposite sex differently when it comes to body image.  Women and men alike fall prey to media induced perceptions of physical perfection.  However, women are more likely than men to portray their weight and measurements as other than they are in the online dating arena.  Men are most likely to be dishonest about their height.

In adolescence, when the dating game begins, percieved social desireability can lead to greater dissatisfaction with body image and resulting eating disorders etc.  Many teen girls struggle with social rejection and not fitting into social, societal and peer percieved “norms”.  This time of life is very important because it can influence a young woman’s body image for the rest of her life.  If she is percieved as “overweight” (and therefore undesireable) for example, in high school, it may not matter years later if she loses weight and changes her life.  She may always have that self-percieved image of herself as an overweight girl and this will affect her for an indeterminate amount of time, or at least until she becomes self-aware.

Men and women both struggle with body image issues, but it is much more intense for women because the societal expectations of women, and that women have for themselves, are that much more difficult to achieve.  Many dating websites such as eharmony and match.com stress the importance of a personality match when attempting to pair compatible mates.  However, there are few if any people on these websites that will emotionally invest without a picture to accompany a profile.  As the old adage goes, unfortunately, a picture is still worth a thousand words for most people.

Online Self-Image Test and Dating Website

Statistical data taken from this article on body image and men and women.

Some of our ideas about beauty and the ideal self-image come from the cultures we have grown up in, others come from the dominant culture.  Traditionally, many African-American women strove to meet the European standard of beauty by lightening their skin and straightening their hair.  This was in stark contrast with the African culture which favors a rich, dark skin tone, natural hair and curvaceous figure.  Over time, all women, even curvaceous ones, have come to be accepted and even revered as strong, loving, and beautiful.  The curvaceous figure has often been portrayed as the hallmark of a real woman. 

The Latin or Hispanic beauty standard also favors a curvaceous figure.  People throughout the world imbue the Latin culture with a natural sensuality.  Therefore, Latin women with curves have been some of the world’s biggest sex symbols since the days of Sophia Loren and Carmen Miranda.  It has been said that Latin men prefer a more voluptuous figure, so Latin women have traditionally done what they can to enhance the figure if it is not god-given.  It should also be noted that the older a Latin woman is, the more sexy she has the potential to be in the eyes of Latin men.  The idea being that age and experience adds to the innate attractiveness a woman has.  One woman that has recently epitomized the Latin beauty standard would be Ms. J. Lo herself.  Though her star may have faded somewhat, she has a clothing line, perfume and many other products designed to target women across the world who want to be like her.

In India and other Asian cultures, the standard for beauty can vary quite a bit.  Chinese culture favors petite, slender women who are modest and conservative.  Japanese culture beauty trends imitate European trends but take fashion to the extreme.  It is not uncommon these days to see a Japanese woman who has tried to dye her hair blonde.  Indian beauty is all about their heritage with usage of traditional clothing, hairstyles and makeup still very prevalent.  One of the most famous Indian women, Aishwarya Rai manages to secure lots of product endorsements because of her combination of traditional Indian features and coveted European blue eyes.  You will seldom see an Asian actress or model scantily clad, because the culture does not usually condone this.  Unlike Western culture, Asian culture tends to be more conservative in its tastes.  However, the idea that a woman doesn’t reach her full beauty potential until middle age is still prevalent among many Asian cultures.

The women shown here are only some of the women used to perpetuate a certain beauty standard among today’s average population.  The average American sees these women, and others like them, all over magazines, television, movies, the radio.  It’s hard not to be persuaded that their beauty is THE beauty to achieve.  Nevertheless, Dove has begun a trend with its campaign for real beauty.  Many women of all colors, shapes and sizes are being recognized for their inner beauty first.  Their line of “Fresh” products emphasizes feeling beautiful (which any woman can) rather than being beautiful (which inevitably involves some kind of standard). Hopefully, the Dove advertising campaign will begin to pave the way for a new way of seeing and accepting beauty.

 From these seeds, the modern age of female self image was sown.  Subsequent generations of women looked to actresses, singers and political figures to help them define what it meant to be a woman.  For some, natural beauty was the only way to go, for others, the bustier and more made-up a person was, the more feminine her image.

We have traveled a long way from the glamour of old Hollywood and the grittiness of the Civil Rights Era.  The cosmetics industry is busier than ever with every product on the market available to make women look and feel beautiful.  Most cosmetics companies even use actresses and singers to help sell products on television, radio and magazines.  It is assumed that today’s woman wants to look just like the supermodel, actress or entertainer she admires, and often, that assumption is well founded.

Though it seems easier than ever to become one of these people with shows like American Idol, Make me a Supermodel and ANTM out there, it is still reasonable for the average woman to assume she may not be “discovered” in this lifetime.  Reality TV has brought fame and notoriety to hundreds of average women who might never have been noticed had they not volunteered to battle their personal demons (personal body image included) in front of an audience of millions.  Often, these Reality TV superstars become spokeswomen for what it means to be a “real” woman, that is, a woman who hasn’t had the advantage of airbrushing and plastic surgery to create an image of perfection.

Conversely, many women place undue pressure on themselves to look as they percieve their idols to be.  Every morning, millions of women look in the mirror with dissatisfaction.  They often do not know the reality behind the glitz and glam of Hollywood.  Among eating disorder rumors and diets that consist of chain-smoking, hard-drug useage and fad diets, many famous women have wilted and become seriously ill.  It’s only recently that companies in the beauty industry have begun to promote inner beauty and natural grace over in imagined standard of perfection.  It may take decades to reverse the emotional bondage around female image created by society and perpetuated by the fashion, beauty and entertainment industries.  However, it may not…perhaps all it takes is one generation of strong young women who are happy to love themselves from the inside out.