Body Dysmorphic Disorder

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Everyone has flaws, physical features that they aren't happy with, but some people are more aware of these flaws than others. Some people spend hours trying to camouflage these imperfections with clothing, makeup, or even altering their posture. Some people even go as far as having surgical procedures to alter these features. Harvard University defines Body Dysmorphic Disorder as "People... preoccupied with what they regard as defects in their bodies or faces." This is dangerous as it can lead to eating disorders such as: Anorexia athletica, Anorexia Nervosa, Muscle dysmorphia, Orthorexia nervosa, or bulimia. BDD affects a large percentage of females in the US, and although it generally starts in adolescence, it can occur in young children…show more content…
Advertisements often sell much more than the product. They sell ideals of what a perfect person is, and what they do. If you buy this product, you'll look like they do. But none of those ads are real people. They start with a real model, already at the prime of possible physical perfection, and then they further warp them with digital editing. Photoshop allows anyone to be perfect, it eliminates wrinkles, scars, acne, hair or anything unwanted just like makeup. And it can give you a tinier waist, flatter stomach, or bigger chest just like shape wear. But it also can do these things to an extreme that makeup can't. It can shrink you to half your size, add bust past the point of a padded bra, and enlarge your lips as if you had surgery, make your entire face look pore free. Cindy Crawford was once quoted saying "I wish I looked like Cindy Crawford" indicating the amount of Photoshop her pictures went through before shown to the general public. A super model is now no longer perfect, and already difficult physical perceptions of beauty are now impossible to obtain. They begin to fixate on something that they dislike about themselves "If she looks like that, then I can too." For instance if a woman doesn't like her stomach, she can exercise and diet to try to flatten it. She can exercise until she has rock hard abs, and there's still going to be part of it that remains soft. The fat is meant to protect your organs and the potential for a…show more content…
Society's image of the perfect woman, based on Hollywood and advertising is an impossible standard to live up to. Rationally we can realize that these standards are impossible, but when no one is talking about it, then no one knows how ridiculous their expectations are. So we sit silently picking at ourselves when we should be realizing what individually makes us

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