Did You Know…

• That if shop mannequins were real women, they’d be too thin to menstruate?
• There are 3 billion women who don’t look like super-models and only 8 who do.
• Marilyn Monroe wore a size 14.
• Models 20 years ago weighed 8% less than the average woman. Today they weigh 23% less than the average woman.
• 7% of 12 th grade males have used steroids in order to become more muscular.
• If Barbie was a real woman, she’d have to walk on all fours due to her proportions.
• Male action figures (GI Joe, etc.) have greatly increased in muscular size since 1973; If GI Joe were human, he would have larger biceps than any bodybuilder in history.
• The average woman weighs 144 lbs. and wears between a 12-14.
• One out of 4 college aged women has an eating disorder.
• In one U.S. National survey, women feared being fat more than dying.
• A survey of formally fat people revealed they would rather be blind or lose a limb than be fat again.
• Americans spend more than 40 billion dollars a year on dieting and diet-related products. That’s roughly equivalent to the amount the U.S. Federal Government spends on education each year.
• 46% of 9-11 year olds are sometimes or very often on diets.
• 50% of 10 th grade and 12 th grade boys want a more muscular upper body.
• It is estimated that 40-50% of American women are trying to lose weight at any point in time.
• Underweight males have body images just as negative as overweight women’s body images.

Body critiquing is as much a part of women’s daily routine as brushing their teeth. Why are we so fat-phobic? There is a strong societal taboo and prejudice toward fatness and fat people. Children are beaten up simply for being fat. Fat adults are perceived as lazy and out of control. Fat people are discriminated against in job selection and overlooked for promotions. So now the questions becomes, do we fear fat, or do we fear not being accepted by society?

Learning to ignore a cultural preference for thinness is a long, slow, perhaps lifelong process. To begin the process of change, you must make a choice: Live a life of frustration and disappointment because your body or some body part doesn’t fit the ideal set out by fashion magazines. Or, learn to accept your body as it is and move on.

Source: Eating Disorders Awareness and Prevention, Inc.