Media Appearances

Quest for thin body is no 'small' problem

By Meghan Bard

Many people would likely say Leominster teen Serrina Auger, 17, is beautiful.

She has long, shiny dark hair, big brown eyes, flawless olive skin and a curvy body millions of girls would envy.

But Auger said she envies the bodies of other women, and wishes she was thinner.

"I want to be small," Auger said. "I'm on a diet."

While shopping at the Mall at Whitney Field on Thursday, Auger said she had a difficult experience trying on pants at Aeropostale. She said she picked up a pair of size 7/8 pants and thought "Ohmigod, they look huge!"

So she tried on the size 5/6. "They wouldn't go up," Auger said.

She asked her friend get her the 7/8, and Auger said that size did not fit either.

She finally found a pair of size 9/10 pants that fit.

"I seriously did not think I was that big. I'm huge," Auger said.

Auger is not the only young woman who places an unrealistic expectation of thinness and beauty on themselves, and who says she is affected by the images of beauty that the media projects.

Jessica Weiner said she understands the pressure some young women feel to be thin.

"I'm a survivor of all three eating disorders, (anorexia, bulimia and binge eating)," said Weiner, a California-based writer. "I spent most of my adolescent life affected by what I saw around me."

Weiner has written an autobiography "A Very Hungry Girl," and her next book, "Do I Look Fat in This?" will be released in December.

"We sell sex and sexuality, beauty and thinness to girls since when they're really little," Weiner said.

She also said girls as young as 11, 12 and 13 are susceptible to the way young women are portrayed.

"Their eyes are set to role models who are a little bit older then them," Weiner said.

Weiner points to Lindsay Lohan, whose recent weight loss has been the topic of countless magazine articles. Weiner said Lohan has her body picked apart by the tabloids.

"We forget they're teenagers," she said. "They're underage, and they're still growing."

Weiner also pointed to the inconsistency of the media's portrayal of young female celebrities. She said one article will decry how skinny Lohan or Mary Kate Olsen is, but will, in a subsequent article, talk about how great they look.

"It's a constant flip-flopping of messaging for our girls," Weiner said. "Girls look at those magazines and really believe that to be true. As soon as Mary Kate gains four pounds, they call her curvy. Without somebody really guiding them to understand what their looking at, they'll continue to be less media savvy than they need to be to survive."

Kylee Caruso, 18, of Gardner, said she isn't influenced by the images of young celebrities, but she knows that others are.

"(Girls) want to be as skinny as Mary Kate and Lindsay Lohan," she said.

Tara O'Brien, 17, of Jaffrey, N.H., also agreed that this portrayal sends a dangerous message.

"(This message is) that it's all right to crash diet or not eat to look good," she said. "It sends a bad message to the girls, and it makes them not want to eat."

The National Eating Disorder Association keeps statistics on the dieting habits of young women. Data shows 42 percent of first- through third-grade girls say they want to be thinner, and 81 percent of 10-year-olds are afraid of being fat.

More than half of 9- and 10-year-old girls said they feel better about themselves if they are on a diet, according to NEDA.

Judy Norsigian, who is the executive director of Our Bodies Ourselves, a Boston-based women's health and advocacy organization, said a major problem with body image is the narrow ideal of "what's chic, what's cool, what's attractive."

"The obsession with meeting a certain body type is really going down the wrong path," Norsigian said. "Sometimes that means our body type ends up being a little heavier than the Madison Avenue form."

Norsigian said people need a more realistic understanding of what they're seeing in magazines. She said decades ago, about 15 percent of the population looked like the stars, today, Norsigian said that figure is probably below 5 percent.

"Now it's almost impossible (to look like a celebrity)," she said. "They're emaciated in many cases, and now they're air brushed. You don't even see the real person in the magazine."

NEDA figures echo Norsigian's comments.

"The average American woman is 5'4" tall and weighs 140 pounds. The average American model is 5'11" tall and weighs 117 pounds," according to the National Eating Disorder Association Web site. "Most fashion models are thinner than 98 percent of American women."

Amy Fuller, 15, of Ashburnham, has noticed young celebrities, including Lohan, Jessica Simpson and Nicole Richie, becoming much thinner than they had been.

"More and more celebrities are turning to being really skinny and anorexic," she said.

Even 12-year-old Michele Iosua, of Lunenburg, has picked up on it.

"I've noticed a lot of celebrities have been (getting thin)," she said. "They don't want to be fat; they want to be perfect."

Norsigian said the notion that being very thin is beautiful can cause problems for young women.

"We're creating a very unhealthy obsession," Norsigian said. "(Girls are) trying to look like something that is usually impossible to achieve, and it's only achievable at the expense of our health."

Brianne Halbedel, 18, of Rindge, N.H., sees the danger in young women idolizing celebrities.

"These people act like role models to (young girls), and they think they need to be thin to be just like (the celebrities)," she said.

Auger said she is one of many young women who idolizes Jessica Simpson's body.

"I would love to be like her," she said "I would die for a body like that."

And some girls do, according to Weiner.

Weiner said 20 percent of people with eating disorders die from the disease.

She said eating disorders have a higher mortality rate than any other mental health problem, including schizophrenia and manic depression.

Weiner said, while an eating disorder is a mental illness, media images are a contributing factor to the disease.

"I think the media and the images of these women are like a really loud background noise," she said. "Sometimes it can drown out the quiet voices (that are a girl's self esteem)."

"We're treating it as a vanity issue, girls who want to be as skinny as Mary Kate, and that's not the issue," Weiner said. "Right now we try to put a Band-Aid on a gaping wound."

Experts say certain steps can be taken to create a climate of more realistic and healthier images of beauty.

"Women need to stand up and speak when they see inappropriate comments made (in the media)," Norsigian said, recommending writing letters to the media organization that published or aired the offending remarks. "They should speak up in a group if a somebody makes a comment. Those kinds of things need a response."

Norsigian also said the adults in young girls' lives need to be careful about what they say.

"Some people in young girls' lives mistakenly make comments about young girls' weight, (like) 'Don't eat that, you might gain weight,'" Norsigian said.

Norsigian added that it is appropriate to think about what you eat and to try to get exercise to be healthy, but it should be something that makes you happy.

"Figure out something that brings you pleasure, so it's not a chore," she said.

Norsigian used the example of someone who might hate going to the gym, but would enjoy a brisk walk with a friend, because "they can visit at the same time."

Another important factor is simply being realistic about your body type.

"Where you end up if you're really taking care of yourself is probably where you're supposed to end up," Norsigian said.

Weiner points to a pro-active approach.

"Action is what we need to happen," Weiner said.

"If you're tired of hearing your little girl tell you what she can and cannot eat, then care about this issue," she said.