Mind Over Matter: Body Dysmorphia and Extreme Fashion of Women

Throughout history the perception on what makes a women beautiful has changed very much: from slim women with high waists, to plump women with full figured bodies, and even women with a child-like body. Media portrays the ideal body image for a woman in the twenty-first century as skinny with big breasts and a slim waist, which most women can not achieve. This makes women wonder “why does my body not look like that” causing them to succumb to the peer pressure of society's image of women. This unfortunately has lead women to resort to extremes and even caused mental disorders like body dysmorphic disorder, the effects of which involve women altering their bodies or leave them preoccupied with a minor defect causing them to feel uncomfortable in their own bodies.

Rib Cage. Pinterest. N.p., 27 July 2015. Web. 11 Jan. 2016.

<https://www.pinterest.com/pin/

   358880664034021193/>.

The corset has been around for many years and is used as a tool to bring out the curves of a women, yet women have gone to the extreme of wearing a corset every day so they will always have a slim appearing waist. This image (right) depicts a human rib cage that has curved inward after an extended period of time of wearing a corset, in contrast to an average human rib cage. The human body is like a puzzle, to change the shape of the rib cage will also change the way

your organs are placed causing

many harmful repercussions to the human body. The fact that a woman will choose to

have a better body over their own health demonstrates the extremes a women will go to to be what society thinks they should be.

Human Barbie. Huffpost Style. N.p., 14 Apr. 2014. Web. 11 Jan. 2016.

   <http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/04/14/

   human-barbie-valeria-lukyanova-without-makeup_n_5146943.html>.

When thinking of the ideal body image one may reference the barbie doll; it is that perfect, unrealistic, ideal body that all women should have. The barbie doll look is shown through this image (left) of a women who surgically changed her face and body to look identical to that of a barbie doll. The barbie doll is one of media's ways of portraying perfection and since many people are exposed to this at a young age it can cause them to grow up always wondering why they do not look look like that. This peer pressure slowly builds up over time until women resort to extremes, like plastic surgery, of completely or slightly altering their bodies.

Body Dysmorphia in Art. OMB Creative. N.p.,

22 Apr. 2010. Web. 11 Jan. 2016.

   <https://ombdesign.wordpress.com/2010/04

/22/body-dysmorphia-in-art/>.

The ideal body image can do more than just physically change a person but also change their mental state too. The painting (left) illustrates a person grabbing at their own fat and pulling at it like it will take it away. Fat is portrayed as an imperfection, so many women become obsessed with how much fat they have. By the women trying to pull off her own fat shows an obsession with having the perfect body and that she feel uncomfortable in her own skin because of it. Always paying attention to such details, even if they are the only ones that can see the imperfection, can become an obsession and can cause mental breakdowns and disorders like body dysmorphia.

Beavis & Butthead with Pamela Anderson Lee. Pinterest.

N.p., 2014. Web. 11 Jan. 2016.

   <https://www.pinterest.com/pin/23362491789724758/>.

These insecurities are also portrayed in different ways like sexualizing one’s own body. The magazine cover (right) draws attention first to the woman's breasts both by centering it and drawing implied lines from the cartoons eyes towards the woman's breasts. The cartoons solely paying attention to the woman’s breasts demonstrates that to get attention it must come from an outer appearance, reinforcing the pressure media’s ideal body puts on women. This can cause much confusion in women since they will believe that if they are not beautiful they can not find love and affection. This can cause women to focus primarily on their outer appearance and can lose themselves to their own obsession of being perfect and beautiful, leading to mental breakdowns or resorting to extremes to perfect their bodies.

Overall, the pressure the media puts forth for women to have an ideal body can cause physical extremities and psychological problems which can be demonstrated through body alterations and/or insecurities within one's body.