Anorexia and Advertising

Have you ever noticed how advertising can affect the way you think of yourself and view the way you look? We're constantly being told we aren't good enough, don't have the right clothes, the right hair or the right body.

It's not hard to see why girls are told that their bodies aren't good enough, with advertisers showcasing touched-up torsos  and smaller and smaller girls, making that vision of beauty unattainable to the average, healthy girl or woman.  

Studies have shown how advertising has negative effects on self-esteem, with girls dieting or feeling depressed by their own bodies as young as 6 years old. The creation of unhealthy eating habits starts young, and when we teach our children as habits are being made, we're setting them up for a lifetime of  negativity and compulsive eating.

But what about in the past? While ads always used to showcase what the ideal look was, did they always believe smaller is better? What about Marilyn Monroe? Ads from that time period show women embracing curves and being celebrated for them rather than told to lose them, which seems like a better deal for those who have naturally curvy figures.

Perhaps instead of focusing on how one ideal is beautiful, we should be focused on how the variety is beautiful and how everyone's uniqueness can be beautiful in its own right.

***Don't miss the new unscripted series "Starving Secrets with Tracey Gold."  Gold (who struggled with anorexia in her teens) works with women in the grips of eating disorders as she uses her own experience to reach them in ways no one else can. Friday nights at 11/10c.