The Real Reason

Dear Reader,

Welcome to RealPeople. The real reason behind this blog is image. Self-image. Body image. Images we see in magazines everyday. Images that influence the way we think about ourselves, even though the images are in no way related to us. Unhealthy images that can make us feel inadequate, self-conscious, and uncomfortable.

When we're standing in the lines at the grocery store, images pop out at us beside screaming headlines like, "Diets that Work," "How I Got Thin," "How I Got My Body Back!" and "Too Thin for TV." These phrases were actually headlines on the second most popular weekly magazine in America, Us Weekly. And these are just the headlines. Inside, you can find article after article about how to get this celebrity's body and who has the latest eating disorder. Have you ever read a magazine like Us and felt good about yourself after? I know I haven't.

So what if magazines show pictures of emaciated celebrities? Well, a survey of adolescent girls by the Commonwealth Fund found that the media is their main source of information about women's health issues. So, magazines filled with pictures of emaciated or ultra-fit celebrities are one of their sources for health information? Somehow, this seems problematic.

Although we may not be able change how people get their health information, we can change the sources themselves. I would like to start with Us Weekly, a magazine that puts a great deal of emphasis on celebrity weight and diet. I would like to convince the editor in chief, Michael Steele, to keep articles about celebrity weight out of his magazine, thus helping to mitigate our fixation on celebrity bodies and how we measure up.

Why do I care? As a 20-year-old female, I have read magazines like Us since middle school. Like many others, I have watched friends starve themselves into twigs of sorrow. Like many others, I have examined myself in the mirror and sucked in my stomach to look thinner. Like many others, I have experienced body image issues. Like many others, I have gone to unhealthy lengths to have a certain body and achieve "perfection." That is over now, but I continue to hear young girls complain about their bodies. I have even heard professional women, women who have high-paying, high-profile careers, worry about not getting to the gym and eating a brownie. Can we cure our culture of negative body image and low self-esteem? I believe this is possible, step by step. The first step starts here.