An Imperfect Body

This is a photo of an unnamed girl who is suffering from anorexia. It is shown through her skinny arms, the measuring tape, and the degrading words written on her body. The measuring tape signifies the problem she has with her weight. The words show how she has low self-esteem and how she feels about herself. Her eyes show how sad and hurt she is from her problem. The picture also does not use any color, sticking with the plain colors black, gray, and white.
This picture is a recent picture, representing this time and our lives today in the modern world. Many girls can easily be pressured into thinking they need to lose weight. Some girls say that thinner girls get more attention at school. Others are pressured by not only peers, but also family members. There are also many websites that encourage anorexia and bulimia. Some sites that encourage anorexia do it in a masked way like one called Starving For Perfection. The author of this site calls herself Mrs. Slim. She says, “Our websites are not aimed at drawing in innocent girls to kill themselves. We want control, power and something of our own” (Druley). She admits that she is anorexic and has an eating disorder, but claims her choices are a way of life to feel in control. Other young girls that suffer from this disorder include Shae Walker. After she quit gymnastics she began to have doubts about her weight, claiming that her mirror image revealed all of the imperfections of her body. She refused to eat many foods, exercised more, and hid her skinny body with big clothes (CBS). Many girls like Walker will do anything to be accepting and look perfect.
Throughout history, people have worked very hard to become perfect. This photo represents the modern struggle humans have to be the ideal. The general public looks at models and thinks that their skinny bodies are perfect and beautiful. Magazines tell us what to wear, do, and eat to lose that extra fat. Many people claim that if they just lost a little bit more then they would look good. There are constant ads like Lap-Band and Jenny Craig that give us ways to get thin quick. Many girls look at themselves in the mirror constantly checking if they look perfect to impress others. This struggle for perfection is not like our past struggles for perfection through immortality or spiritually, but it is more psychologically and just as important.