OK, ladies, what length would you go to trim your waistlines after the sweet-filled holiday season?
A recent survey in Fitness magazine reveals some disconcerting results of the importance women place on looking thin.
The publication surveyed 1,000 adult women about nutrition, appetite and weight loss, showing America the degree of pressure females face to look good.
The results are stunning.
One in four women said they would trade in their heels for black-and-white jail stripes for an entire week if, when they were released, they would be their ideal weight.
Extra toes? Not a problem for 85 percent of the women surveyed. If it means keeping their figures slim, most women apparently have no problem walking through life with an 11th toe. Nearly a quarter of women also agreed to shave their heads for weight loss.
This says something somewhat depressing about our society. It leaves me feeling a bit queasy that this many females, at a time when we apparently hold more power than ever, continue to fall victim to the weight issue.
I am not discrediting women’s desire to look and feel healthy. I am a promoter of healthy eating and positive lifestyle choices. But, Fitness magazine found a woman’s primary goal when dieting is appearance-driven, not that of health or well-being.
Women still want to look like the celebrities we see on the big screen, even when we witness the public shame and narcotic use that follow, such as with Lindsay Lohan’s 40-pound weight loss. And Paris? A jailbird and apparent alcoholic. Britney? Once a sex goddess, now a pathetic joke.
So, why would some females rather jump into the growing sea of waifs rather than fill their own heels? How, after years and years of hearing about the media’s effects on women’s self-esteem does it still hold validity in 2008?
Women, collectively, as a New Year’s resolution should attempt to abolish the tainted lens with which they view their own body and redefine hot.
Perhaps this is the idea that Justin was speaking about with “bringing sexy back.”
Allow your view of sexiness to encompass confidence, intelligence and positivity. Focus more on the attributes you can offer than on your dress size, and vow that in 2008, you won’t look at a famous waif and wish you could just spend a week in jail to look like them.
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