#emiestorytime

I wrote a speech for English about the negative effects of society's emphasis on weight and appearance, and it would mean a lot if you guys would look it over and tell me what you think. I have to present it on Wednesday!

           Most people would say that change is impossible, that there is no good side to change, that change should be kept in our pockets, not in our society. But what if I were to tell you that society needs a change? That the human idea of what we need to be, is not only outrageous and unacceptable, but impossible?

            In America, the standard idea of a “perfect body” in height and weight is achievable by less than 5% of women. Overall “beauty” including facial features, is achievable by less than 1%. If it isn’t enough to expect women to live up to these implausible ideals, they are disparaged through media such as television, movies, even classic literature, that their insecurities make them “bad” or “ugly.” Archetypically, the good fairy or princess is always “beautiful,” while the wicked witch or stepmother is “ugly.” An American study showed that eight out of ten women are dissatisfied with their appearance. I did my own study, sending a tweet to my 740 Twitter followers, asking them to reply with an insecurity they feel about themselves. I received fourteen replies, nine of which stated a physical feature, including height, weight, or a facial feature such as the color of their eyes or size of their nose. All of the replies came from normal American teenaged girls, with mixed backgrounds. One reply was privately messaged to me, by my friend Cristy. Cristy is a normal teenage girl, she’s 5’6”, loves to dance, and is a cheerleader. “Society has made me extremely self-conscious about my weight. No matter how thin you are, you're always pushed to lose more weight. And if you're too thin, you're labeled as ‘anorexic,’ even if you are not.”

            Thousands of other girls just like Cristy, feel the same way. In America, 81% of ten year old girls have tried a diet at least once, and by age seventeen, only 30% of girls have not attempted a diet. It has been reported that 70 million Americans at any given time are trying to lose weight or prevent weight gain, and an estimated $30 billion a year is spent by Americans on weight loss products and services. Why? Almost all diet attempts fail, which can cause rebound weight gain, cravings and unnatural hungers, and even a psychological preoccupation with food. Other effects that the American preoccupation with being “skinny” include eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia, and body altercations like liposuction.

            The Federal Trade Commission and Partnership for Healthy Weight Management released a statement that “the public must adopt a healthy skepticism about advertising that promises miracles and ‘scientific breakthroughs’ and face the reality that there are no fast and easy fixes for overweight or obesity.” While being overweight is not healthy, a lifestyle choice must be made and implemented to make any difference on the body and it’s appearance. A healthy BMI range is between 18.5 and 24.9, but the average for twenty year old and above American women is 28.1, placing the average in the overweight category. To tell a woman she is not beautiful based on her body mass compared to her height and weight is unimpressive and unprogressive. Because of society’s emphasis on how “overweight” the nation is, even women within the normal BMI feel they too are “not good enough.”

            You may be asking yourself why my focus is primarily is on women. Through research, I consistently found that males do not hold as much insecurity as females when it comes to their appearance. In one study, it was actually found that obese males rated themselves more attractive than women in a healthy weight category rated themselves. This is mainly because women are compared to a more outrageous standard and are more emotional thinkers.

            Media’s attention to weight and appearance is a major problem in the issue of America’s morality. Every day I see people dismissing their attributes, because they are not “pretty enough.” But like every problem, there is a solution. This is not a solution that can be signed in a bill or voted on, you cannot force media to change their icons of beauty or impose a tax on people for trashing on someone else’s appearance. You cannot catch all the bullies, or ban photoshop. But, instead of pouring our money into a $60 billion industry (as the weight loss industry is estimated to be worth), we ourselves can brighten another person’s day with only a few kind words. Studies show that people react positively to encouragement and a stable, self-secure environment, and are more likely to lose weight if they feel they are making decent progress at their own pace that is healthy for them. Also, people feel better about themselves when they pay compliments to others. So, instead of challenging yourself to lose ten pounds in a week, I challenge you to make someone else feel better about themselves.

Last seen: being stolen by a group of kids who claim to be in a band called Before You Exit.

Sorry I look like crap, this was a sort of impromptu thing....anyway...here's the answer video! Thank you to everyone who sent me questions(: