An eating disorder is "condition which affects an individuals eating habits, either as a result of their own doing (self-inflicted), or as a bodily reaction to the consumption of food." (Wikipedia) People, especially women, have always struggled with the notion of beauty. As beauty has changed over time, so has the intense battle to fit the new concepts of beauty. In the media, especially in the fashion industry, going all the way back to to the "heroin-chic" period when it was considered beautiful to be so skinny that you could see a model's ribs and spine. I'm sorry but nothing about seeing bones on a person's body is okay to me. And the diet industry has not helped either. There is an abundance of dieting commercials with celebrities in them that make it seem okay to diet. And while eating healthy is not a bad thing, the assault of visual images about losing weight can cause a complex on impressionable young minds. Preoccupation with appearance has become society's addiction and a ritual that is more and more common among young women. Because we live in a consumer based world, we are always trying to fit into the products that are made for us. There are many designers that only make clothing for size 0 people and even though that is not realistic, people will strive to fit those extra skinny jeans, and starve themselves to do it. What we need in society is designers willing to spend the extra money on fabric and make clothes for normal women, so that young people aren't trying to fit into an impossible standard. What we need is women willing to stand up and say that I'm not a size 0 and I am proud of it. Society can be reintegrated when we can find those people willing to do fight back against those standards that can't be attained by the majority of society. Eating disorders are a plague on society but they can hopefully combated with the right influences and the view that we are perfect the way God made us.
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