The Unglamorous Truth

Glamour magazine conducted a survey of 33,000 women called ‘Feeling Fat in a Thin Society’. Here are some of the results:

• 75% of the respondents said they felt too fat.
• 95% said their weight affected their feelings about themselves
• Given the choice of losing weight, happiness in a relationship, success at work, or hearing from an old friend, nearly half the women said losing weight would make them happier than anything else.

This survey was taken in 1989. 20 years later, the results are the same.

20 years: No evolution, no progress, no advancement.

Americans spend $33 billion a year on losing weight. 20 million women have eating disorders. 25% of all men are constantly dieting, 50% of all women. 9 out of 10 people who lose weight on a diet gain it back. For those who fail on a diet this year, there will be 30,000 new diet plans next year to choose from.

I know there has certainly been more education between my generation and the generation of my mother. To counteract the benefits of that, there has also been more glamorization of underweight models and actresses. Yet the level of neuroses remains consistent. Of the responses, that which caught me most off guard was that half the women chose losing weight to be their number one ideal. Over happiness in a relationship? Really? Over success at work? Honestly?

What else would women choose being thin over… a paid off mortgage? Living five healthy years longer? Getting to have one last conversation with a deceased love one? While there is no way to prove it, I suspect the results wouldn’t change much if they were offered these options. It’s an obsession and one that seems to be encouraged. I guess the real question is: What is worse? A) Having a world where women are bigger than the standards represented in the media, or B) Having a world where women are so seduced by the unrealistic standards that we strive for them at the sacrifice of success, love and happiness?