Gorgeous, skinny girls are plastered all over the covers of magazines in grocery stores, convenience stops, bookstores, and offices of all types. Does this affect your body image? Does it change how you view your size and shape?
More than you know.
"All women are equally and negatively affected after viewing pictures of models in magazine ads for just three minutes," says Science Daily. A University of Missouri-Columbia study found that all women experience a blow to their body image – regardless of their height, age, shape, or size.
Researchers previously believed that heavier or slightly obese women feel worse about their body image after seeing magazine cover girl ads, as compared to those who are of average weight. However, they're finding that women's levels of satisfaction with their bodies dropped regardless of their appearance.
Depression and hostility
A different study, conducted by the University of Toronto, found immediate responses of depression and hostility after women viewed models in popular women's magazines. After seeing only 20 pictures, women felt a drop in their self-esteem. You see many, many more cover girl ads every day in movies, television, billboards, and on the internet.
Yes, you can thrive despite cover girls!
Feeling good about who you are and where your life is heading involves so much more than seeing models in women's magazines. A flat page of perfection has nothing on you!
Make positive comparisons. If you're hooked on comparing yourself to other women, get into the habit of making one positive comparison for every negative one. For instance, the cover girl has perfect skin and you don't. You have beautiful curls, and she doesn't. See yourself as a whole woman with strengths and weaknesses – and remind yourself that she's a whole woman too, with her own set of strengths and weaknesses.
Focus on what you do well. You may be kind, gentle, and loving – or assertive, determined, and well-spoken! Maybe you're funny and cute, or tall and sophisticated. Perhaps you're a dynamo lawyer or compassionate doctor…all of your positive traits combine to make you the woman you are – and there's nobody here like you. Figuring out who you are in this world involves more than your size and shape.
Brainstorm all the ways the cover girls have been air-brushed, pinned, highlighted, painted, plucked, waxed, colored, and styled. Some are even partly computer generated. Hours of preparation and fiddling went into that single wind-blown shot on the beach. The cover girl stylists have secrets that normal women don't have the time, energy, money, or motivation to apply. Or even learn about.
Consider the source of your body image. What do you think about your body – and why? Are your parents, siblings, relatives, friends, children, or lovers shaping how you feel about yourself? Learn about body dysmorphic disorder, and whether it affects you. Develop habits of health and wellness instead of criticism and self-abuse.
Being happy is all about your experiences, not your appearance or possessions.
