Are you willing to alter yourself for the Media?

The average size of a woman in America is a size fourteen in clothing. When I heard thats I was shocked. It is so common to see women from television and movies who wear clothes that are size two or six, and assume that you yourself are the odd one out. When in reality they are just the lucky few who are chosen to represent women in a certain way. Is a certain way always the right way? In the movie Bride Wars I remember a line that stuck out to me and never forgot it when actress Kate Hudson says, “You don't alter Vera to fit you; you alter yourself to fit Vera.” What this is saying is that you need to be a certain size to wear a designer Vera Wang gown for your wedding. What about everyone else who isn’t that size, and wants to wear a Vera Wang wedding dress on their special day? Do they just have to settle for whatever plus sized Lane Bryant like wedding dresses that are left on the sales rack at David’s Bridal?
Media has never been too accommodating to the idea of plus sized women or even the idea of chunky women. When the show Ugly Betty first aired on ABC, America Ferrera was probably the averaged sized woman at a size twelve or fourteen. When her second season aired America had lost a substantial amount of weight. It’s just my hypothesis, but since no one in show business is an angel I am sure plenty of people were telling America that she was fat. The executives probably told her if she lost some of the weight she could procure more viewers, so since ratings are pretty much everything for a new show she went along with it.
There is so much pressure in the world to be a certain size. I believe that the pressure doesn’t start until a certain age. When I was five I was an adorable child I loved kindergarten and friends, but what I loved more was food. The highlight of everyday for me was going to McDonald’s and getting a Happy Meal with my special toy. My parents would never deny me McDonald’s, and it made me happy so I began to associate food with happy feelings at a young age. As I got into middle school the McDonald mornings were starting to make themselves more and more noticeable on my stomach. This one boy in class, Brent was one of the first to notice when he said to me, “Hey Debra, you’re so fat I can’t walk around you without running out of breath.” I couldn’t say anything, I was dumbfounded. Here I am only eleven years old, and I am already treated like an outcast.
I always have had friends, only because I am usually loud and obnoxious hoping that people will see my huge personality before they see my weight. When I reached High School that was not the case. The first and second days of High School I was water balloon targeted by the seniors. I was easy to spot. By the time I got to High School I weighed about two hundred and fifty pounds. Not many kids liked me, except my friends from middle school, people in art class and a few anime kids. The only class I loved in High School was art, because I could sit, eat, paint and watch movies all at the same time. Not many people judged me when I was in art class, because I let my art speak for me.
During High School I never went to sports games, dances, smoked cigarettes, did drugs, drank alcohol, had sex or even drove a car. I had no confidence at all. I had no confidence to even want to try to rebel, the only rebelling I ever did in high school was getting low grades. I stayed inside my art studio painted and wrote poems online. I kept to myself as much as I could. I still interacted with friends, but I wouldn’t let anyone get close to me. Since I figured, What kind of guy would ever love a fat girl? Then I started lying to people, elaborate lies pretending that I was a, “bad ass,” and slept around with guys. Truth was that I was just afraid that no one would ever like me for me.
After High School I met a guy who ended up taking advantage of the fact that I had no self esteem or confidence. He abused me for a year and half. I stayed with him because I thought that was the best that I could get, because I wasn’t what everyone else saw, as beautiful.
No one is ugly. Everyone is different. To judge a person based on the way they look is typical, but you may be missing out on the best models, the greatest singers, amazing dancers, phenomenal actors, wonderful associates, maybe your life partner or possibly your best friend. Is it right to say what beauty is or who is more beautiful? Is it right to limit fashion, style, or even popularity by the certain type of beauty that is portrayed in the media? It might not be a good thing to happen, but it does every day and though there are small changes made every day, the real discrimination ends up in the hands of individuals that watch the media. That discrimination hurts girls everywhere in the form of anything from eating disorders to self image issues. Will we ever be perfect enough for the media’s lens, or do we even want to be?