The following statistics were gathered from a variety of sources on the Internet. They are compelling and realistic facts for young women chasing unrealistic goals for their bodies.

• If shop mannequins were real women they’d be too thin to menstruate.
• There are 3 billion women who don’t look like supermodels.
• Marilyn Monroe wore a size 12.
• If Barbie were a real woman, she’d have to walk on all fours due to her proportions.
• The average American woman weighs 144 pounds and wears between a size 12 and 14.
• One out of every four college-age women has an eating disorder.
• The models in the magazines are airbrushed—they’re not perfect!!
• A psychological study in 1995 found that 3 minutes spent looking at models in a fashion magazine caused 70% of women to feel depressed, guilty, and shameful.
• Models who twenty years ago weighed 8% less than the average woman, today weigh 23% less.

1. How do you feel about these statistics?
2. Have you heard these facts before?
3. Why do young women strive for perfection, when that perfection does not exist?
4. How can young women attempting to improve their body image change their patterns of behavior?
5. How does one distinguish between being healthy and fit from being obsessed with body perfection?
6. What role do young men play in this issue? How can they help support young women?

1. There is no sense in our generation of women and future generations of women killing themselves to look thin. Women (and men) are simply being lied to by many forms of media.
2. Encourage young women to love themselves and others for who they are, not what they look like.

IMPLICATIONS

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

Anonymous. (1998). Statistics on body image. Internet article.

OVERVIEW