Modern Society's Caloric Intake

Earlier this month, Indiana University's Counseling and Psychological Services sponsored "Celebrate Your Body Week," an annual event consisting of activities that promote positive body image and educate students about the dangers of eating disorders and over-exercise. Students were invited to submit work related to the event for a gallery. Unfortunately, I was too busy to get my idea realized and printed before the deadline date, but it did inspire me to address this issue through art. I created this triptych to show the extremes of an eating disorder in a straightforward, simple way, without incorporating a person.

I have unfortunately witnessed the destructive nature of eating disorders in friends and peers from high school until now. I have heard many women (and men) my age become visibly distressed over the pressures of being thin in today's society. We have all felt these same pressures at some point, but it is truly tragic to see them take over the human mind and transform negative thoughts into self-destructive behavior. It is painful to watch a friend chew gum for lunch, and eat a few crackers for dinner, but it's nothing compared to the pain felt by those with the disorder. It is important to raise awareness for eating disorders, and educate people about their dangerous consequences so that we can combat the causes.

Advertisements depicting unrealistic Photoshopped bodies on actual healthy and beautiful women are certainly not helping the problem (see link below). Nor are the general requirements for editorial and fashion modeling, which are (according to my internet research), between 5'8"-6'0" in height and 90-120 lbs. Those are nearing Barbie's unnatural and slightly emaciated proportions, and create unrealistic ideals for young women, not to mention the low self-esteem women feel when they see these magazines and wonder why they can't look the same way.

A huge mistake by Ralph Lauren's advertisers shows the odd desire for disproportionaly skeletal women in the fashion world: http://opinion.latimes.com/opinionla/2009/10/ralph-lauren-photoshop-filippa-anorexiea-eating-disorder-bulimina.html

Campaigns for real beauty and fashion shows incorporating more "plus size" models are starting to appear, and I can only hope that they continue to push the emphasis towards a healthy body, rather than one that is unnaturally thin. V Magazine is starting to help, by showing that women larger than a size 4 are just as beautiful.

This is an issue that I will continue to follow, and I will do my best to use my photography and art to propel modern society's image of the ideal body away from where it currently resides and towards something more realistic, and less dangerous. I urge others to do the same.