According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD), “Over 1,674,251.33 of American women suffer from anorexia and over 2,511,376.995 suffer from bulimia nervosa in their lifetime.” One of the unfavorable aspects with the appearance of technology is the burden imposed upon women to have perfect bodies. Society has categorized a certain type of body as ideal: skinny, toned, and tall. Pressure on the female gender to achieve this stereotype has increased tremendously. Girls will take extreme measures in order to meet the community’s expectations.

The pressure on women to have the perfect body has existed for a long time, but it has increased significantly with the growing dominance of technology in daily life. “Society has set standards for women to look a certain way. I has been like that since before but it has incremented the most with social media. In this era social media influencers have what is considered the perfect body, people are convinced all women should look that way,” Isabela Murillo, senior at TCS, said. Due to what social media has brought to people’s attention and dictated as perfect, society has put a mark on what all women should strive to imitate. In my opinion, this problem is  increasing all the time, and although nowadays people are trying to spread the idea of self-love, people around the world are still going to extremes so they can attain the “perfect” body.

In the attempt to achieve what society expects, there are always side effects–in this case, mortal ones. According to the ANAD, “Every 62 minutes at least one person dies as a direct result from an eating disorder.” In this era, women will do anything to meet social demands and emulate those who are deemed flawless. Some women will resort to extreme measures to lose weight, such as surgery, unhealthy diets, and excessive exercise; some ultimately suffer from eating disorders due to their distorted beliefs. In my opinion, more has to be done to prevent this. If someone wants to lose weight they should do it because of their health not because some man or woman is telling them to do it. Plus, if someone does decide to lose weight for whatever reason, it should be done in a healthy way; deciding to eat balanced meals and exercise is an excellent way to do so. We shouldn’t pay attention to what humanity thinks is the optimal image of women and what is not.

However, many men could argue that women are playing the victim role and aren’t aware they are not the only ones feeling this pressure. According to the University of Pittsburgh, “Men’s magazines and advertisements often contain images of what the media defines as ‘masculine.’ From an early age, boys are taught to be tough and physical.” Even though this can be true, the pressure on women is much greater. An example of this is that it’s not common to hear of a boy who’s having surgery to have a nice body, but it is really common to hear that a girl is.

Society should stop having an enforcing impossible standards of what women need to look like or how much someone should weigh–especially regarding young, impressionable girls. The idea of how our bodies should look is a misconception and we have made this a priority. A superficial society has emerged from this weakly founded idea. If we educate people and make them realize that there’s so much more than just physical appearance, we would be able to not only connect more with people but also with ourselves. It is essential to learn to respect and love each other in order to be able to love ourselves.