The media is ridiculous.

It's sad when you hear a 13 yr old say stuff like that.

I work in advertising, and am constantly airbrushing pics, so I know it isn't real.

Plus growing up, the only insecurity I had was that I wished I was taller. I'm 5'3" now and 25.

Other than that, I admit, I was always the skinny kid amongst my friends.

I also was the one with the big boobs (they kinda appeared over night. Sort of.)

What upset and irritated me the most was when people would say.' Oh you're so pretty, if only you were taller'.

I'd be irritated beyond words!

i am 13, and have never had an eating disorder, but have thought a lot about them. i guess im not fat, but im not skinny either... i go 2 a private catholic skool and mostly everyone there is naturally-born skinny. 3 times have i been called fat by fellow classmates. once last yr in 7th gr during sci. once this yr at our 8th gr retreat by a boy wo is larger than me. once this yr...... by a teacher. i just told all of these ppl to basically go fuck themselves and told them that i dont care wut they think of me. well, this is how i let them see me. inside, i am very self concious. this past week was thanksgiving break and out of 5 days, i starved myself for 3. a couple of weeks ago, my own uncle said i had teachers arms. i just told him to look in the mirror cuz he has a muffin top. idk y im telling u this. i guess its cuz im happy 2 finally let some1 kno my feelings... the night of this incident, i turned on the shower and blared the music. i attempted 2 gag myself. however, i could not make myself do it....

anyway, i just wanted 2 tell u that a lot of young girls my age have A LOT of insecurities because of todays society. its a dreadful thing, really. i  mean, who would want 2 be an anorexic modelthat has bones showing everywhere? eww..

but, in despise of everythin ive typed before, i somewhat admire anorexics for their self control :)

i like how u posted this story. it really made me realize that i should be happy with my body. thnxz u :)

I once got extremely sick and my lowest was 90lbs. But in eight months I gained 35lbs back and I love it! I'm healthy and I feel great.
But the media does affect a woman's self-esteem. It really puts down those girls who do not see that the women we see on television and in print ads are not "real" women.

@CrissySomedays - totally agree!

recently, my younger sister has discovered that her friend suffers from anorexia. and how old is she? eleven years old.

The other day, I stumbled across some girl's xanga, and I was horribly sickened by the pictures and words she had posted. All the comments encouraged and congratulated her on her weight loss. I soon realized that all of these girls set a goal weight and kept track of all the were eating. Some at less than half the calories recommended  a day and others ate 700 calories a week. I left some comments but I think it was useless.

What a great post

"Advertisements like this only solidify the fact that a woman's value is her youth and beauty. (A man's has always been his productivity, or potential productivity.) In today's world, a woman's "worth" to society peaks on her wedding day; a man's increases perpetually."

I AGREE COMPLETELY!!!! Not agree with the stupid societal values, but agree that that really is how society sees women and men, and it annoys the crap out of me!! And you put it eloquently too, thumbs up.

I absolutely HATE when girls self-depricate their appearances for attention, or even if they really "hate" their bodies.

Love the username too..walden thoreau, haha. Oh transcendentalism.

I have serious problems with my body image. I'm fat and ugly, to put it simple. But I've never brought into the whole super skinny is beautiful. Bones sticking out scare me. Even when I was young, when most girls were worshipping supermodels and super slim movies stars, I was in awe with their curvier counterparts, ala Marilyn Monroe. I prefer America Ferrera over Mary Kate/Ashley.

I struggle with it every day. I went from the ideal thinness in high school to a size eight in about two years. I'm still struggling to see myself as beautiful, healthy, and normal. I think that women everywhere are going to struggle with this until they die. 

THANK.YOU.
yes i have struggled with my body image once, for about ten minutes and then i realized how ridiculous i was for even thinking i needed to be skinnier!
it was during summer time when everyone wears bikinis...(do you see where im going with this) A LOT of my friends are SUPER skinny and are curveless. but then there is me....i have curves, im not stick thin, and i have an ass. one day i got back from a day at the pool and i was looking in the mirror and i thought that i needed to loose weight. so then i went down to my kitchen, opened the pantry, and grabbed my mom's diet mix that you stir into milk. so i placed a big clump of it into a tall glass of milk and gulped it down hoping that if i drank as much of this as possible then i would be skinnier and look like my friends. IT WAS DISGUSTING! absolutely HORRIFIC! i never tasted it again and i realized how stupid i was being! from that point on i promised myself that i would always think i was beautiful no matter what and never drink that horrible diet shake again!
im not fat, but im not stick thin either. im perfect. and i wont strive to be anything else because im not one dimensional.
the media is playing with women's minds and men's as well and its just not fair.

did she actually say that?  "Maybe I am beautiful"?   Haha that sounds like bad dialogue out of a cheap feel-good book.  what an air head.

the media only shows us what we want to see. 

I'll be lying to you if I say the media have not affected my body image at all. In fact, it affected everybody in some way little or big. Instead, you should ask how much the media have affected your body image?  That would be much more accurate.

I heard some people rather have a flat chest to be thin then to have full size body.  And when I say full size body I mean there is meat on the body where it should be.  I personally, like my body they way it is most of the time.  Occasionally, on holidays there someone calling fat like my sister in-law.  She's a size zero.  So, comparing me to her she thinks I look like a cow.

I can't believe the amount of beautiful women I talk to who deny their beauty. I take pictures of them to prove it, and then they give all the credit to me for making them beautiful. I can only take a picture of what's already in front of the camera. It sorrows me that all of these women have their perceptions controlled by magazines and ads. Ridiculous.