Rich, famous and talented. Gracing the cover of magazines and showing up to fabulous parties with a posse of photographers trailing behind them, celebrities are a staple of American culture. Our society worships them by buying their products, seeing their movies and trying to look like them. In order for human beings to properly introspect, we need a basis of comparison. There is no real standard for attractiveness or beauty, so we use celebrities as a measuring stick for ourselves. Unfortunately, this comparison is ruining the self-esteem of women across the nation. If we're not as thin as Eva Longoria or Scarlett Johansen, then we're fat. If we're not as fit as Jessica Biel, then we're out of shape. The careers of these women depend on their figure and they need to look the way they do. To compare ourselves to that high standard deprives us of a realistic self-image.
Celebrities have taught us to believe beauty means being thin, that being happy means being thin. According to examiner.com, 91 percent of women surveyed on college campuses had attempted to control their weight through dieting. Dieting is not the worst of what celebrities are doing to our body images. Every year, more and more girls die from anorexia out of sheer desperation to have the "perfect" body. A survey done for Social Psychology found nearly half of college women said they were unhappy with their bodies. This dissatisfaction is sweeping across the nation and must be put to a stop. Girls with eating disorders are getting younger and taking more drastic measures than ever before.
How do celebrities have this power over us? Girls deprive themselves of a basic human need because someone they have never met looks skinny on a magazine cover. Is it because we give them too much control? After all, they are not advertising anorexia as an option. Nonetheless, they are aware of the power they posses. They need to start practicing what they preach and give girls the confidence to have a positive self-image.
I can't help but think what a different place it would be if we didn't have public figures like celebrities. What if we didn't have this voice in the back of our heads telling us how to be? Would anorexia exist at all? Would we be happier? Women need to fight back. We need to stand up for ourselves and know we are not as fat as celebrities make us out to be. We have power too, and we need to exercise it. So grab that cheeseburger, ladies, and enjoy every bite.
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