I recently read an article from ScienceDaily magazine regarding the strong role that the media plays on influencing how women feel about their bodies. ScienceDaily reports that through their research involving more than 15, 000 subjects, it was found that exposure to media depicting ultra-thin actresses and models significantly increased women’s concerns about their bodies, including how dissatisfied they felt and their likelihood of engaging in unhealthy eating behaviors, such as excessive dieting.

Researchers from ScienceDaily reported that they have demonstrated that it doesn’t matter what the exposure is, whether it’s general TV watching in the evening, or magazines, or ads showing on a computer. If the image is appearance-focused and sends a clear message about a woman’s body as an object, then it’s going to affect women.

ScienceDaily also reports that recent research has established body dissatisfaction as a major risk factor for low self-esteem, depression, obesity, and eating disorders, such as bulimia. Unfortunately, at the same time, women’s displeasure with their bodies has become so common that it’s now considered normal. It has become normal for women to feel depressed about their image, have low-self esteem and ultimately seek out unnecessary and risky surgeries and procedures to “correct” something that they feel is “wrong.”

Yes, it is normal for a woman to want to be attractive, but what is happening is that our society is striving toward a image (ultra skinny with oversized breasts) that is not very realistic or obtainable, which is leading to health consequences for women seeking this unrealistic and unattainable image.

Over the past week, silicone breast implants have come back into “the hot seat” again after only being back on the market for a year and a half. The Canadian government is considering deeming 11 everyday chemicals, including Cyclohexasiloxane (which is a building block for silicone breast implants) toxic and unsafe for the environment. As questions yet again are starting to rise among the scientific community about the safety level of breast implants, women SHOULD also be questioning the safety level of breast implants (saline included as they are made from plenty of chemicals too,) but are they? No. Women are so overly concerned about reaching that unattainable goal that they are willing to turn a blind eye to warnings from other women, even scientific evidence that shows breast implants are not safe.

Currently, France’s parliament is considering a landmark bill that would outlaw media images glamorizing the extremely thin. But, is this the answer? In my opinion, the problem is not with women’s attraction to these images (ultra skinny with oversized, unnatural breasts,) and trying to emulate those images, but what society is currently deeming is beautiful….unnaturally thin with oversized breasts!

When is enough going to be enough? When are we as women going to be skinny enough, have large enough breasts, big enough lips, small enough noses?? When are we going to stop letting others (for no good reason) tell us there is something wrong with us and that something needs to be fixed?

I don’t know ladies….is this REALLY what is beautiful, or is this just what society is telling us is beautiful?