When I started out reading the essay I was picturing a young white girl. The essay was correct in assuming that I would myself, assume this. This was not what surprised me though, the thing that surprised me the most was how great of an influence television was on these young womens vision of themselves. It also surprised me that there are women in Africa who used to desire a valuptuous bodies, now desire the exact opposite.
Although this article shocked me that people can be so powerfully influenced by images, I couldn't help but think of the other side of this. I am a Pre- Diet and Exercise major and I tend to believe that dieting can be healthy. When they surveyed the girls of Fiji did they define what dieting was. There are bad types of dieting and these women may have been in this category, but they also could have been eating healthy and just watching more closely what they ate. On top of this, it surprised me that women in Africa used to get sent to camps to fatten them up before their wedding day. You can be healthy and have meat on your bones, but this can also get out of control. After reading this article I was convinced of one thing, images and television play a huge role in how we percieve ourselves.
Although this article shocked me that people can be so powerfully influenced by images, I couldn't help but think of the other side of this. I am a Pre- Diet and Exercise major and I tend to believe that dieting can be healthy. When they surveyed the girls of Fiji did they define what dieting was. There are bad types of dieting and these women may have been in this category, but they also could have been eating healthy and just watching more closely what they ate. On top of this, it surprised me that women in Africa used to get sent to camps to fatten them up before their wedding day. You can be healthy and have meat on your bones, but this can also get out of control. After reading this article I was convinced of one thing, images and television play a huge role in how we percieve ourselves.
