The other night I (Kallie) was having dinner with Jarred and Andy and I told Jarred to write an article about anorexia and the female body image. He told me to do it.

So as most of you have heard by now, Mary-Kate Olsen has checked into a hospital to get therapy for her anorexia. This got me thinking about the image of beauty, and what the ideal woman is supposed to look like according to society.

In the 1950s and ‘60s, Marilyn Monroe was a huge role model to women everywhere. She was 5’5 ½’’, about 140 pounds and considered absolutely gorgeous. Today, women look up to celebrities like Britney Spears (5’4’’, 125 pounds), Cameron Diaz (5’9’’, 120 pounds) and Jennifer Aniston (5’5’’, 112 pounds). My little sister asks me if she is fat on a daily basis. She’s 7 years old (and far from fat.) “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” is quite cliché, and though it’s a nice thought, there are standards that women hold themselves to. Because, sure, everybody has a different idea of beautiful, but MOST people view the previously mentioned celebrities as beautiful. And MOST women don’t look anything like that.

Little girls grow up playing with Barbie dolls, and idolizing unrealistically skinny women on TV, in movies, and in magazines. Obviously not every little girl who likes Britney Spears is going to become anorexic, (I’m a huge fan of her and I eat what I want, when I want to) but the fact remains that women are held to a ridiculous standard. Society gives an image of what women are supposed to look like. And in the 1950s and ‘60s, this was a healthy image. It was okay to have breasts and hips and thighs. Today, it is only acceptable to have breasts, and nothing else. Having a body with huge breasts and without hips and thighs is completely realistic. You just need to starve yourself for a while, and then get implants. No big deal. Even Britney Spears, who was named the sexiest woman alive by FHM magazine last year, has been under much scrutiny lately because of her “weight gain.”

The average American woman is about 5’5’’ and 145 pounds. Not everybody can be 5’9’’ and 120 pounds. It is quite possible that women will never be content with their own bodies, but it's important to make little girls aware that Barbie is not normal and that they weren’t necessarily meant to look like Britney Spears.

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