The most common justification of the current standard of beauty is that it promotes health by encouraging people not to be overweight, however what people do not realize is that according to the South Carolina department of mental health, seven million women in America have an eating disorder. When girls see the image of thin girls on TV, the dissatisfaction with their bodies causes any women to strive for the thin ideal. This leads to negative body image and in order to combat their negative body image, they resolve to go on diets, which unfortunately lead to eating disorders. The most common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Anorexia nervosa is when one participates in self-starvation in the fear of being fat. Because many models and actresses are so thin, it makes anorexics think their skinny bodies are normal. Bulimia nervosa is when a person overeats, which is then followed by a feeling of guilt or shame, which then leads to reactions such as crash dieting, doing a lot of exercise, and purging.
The damaging power of the media is a growing problem, not only in the U.S., but in many other countries too, and in order to change the current standard of beauty from thin flaw-less women to women of all sizes, shapes, and colors, we must start from within. In order to combat the negative effects of media on girls, we must emphasize mental growth. By encouraging girls to try new things, it can give them a sense of accomplishment. This can increase girls’ self-esteem. Realizing that the models we see on TV are airbrushed and retouched is another way girls’ can help improve their self-esteem as well as their body image. Because girls realize that girls’ on TV and in magazines have been retouched and edited, they will feel more secure knowing that not even they people on TV look the way they look on TV. According to Grogan, changes need to be made at the level of the individual in order to reform our views of the girls’ on the media. Women and girl should reject traditional media conceptions of body image completely. Wendy Chakis argues that women need to reject traditional cultural ideals and celebrate the “natural body”. This means that girls need to accept the fact that beauty comes in all shapes, sizes, and colors.