Is it any wonder that in the United States approximately 20 million women suffer from an eating disorder at some time in their life? Or that “by age 6, girls especially start to express concerns about their own weight or shape.” Up to sixty percent of elementary school girls are concerned about becoming too fat. According to MissRepresentation.org, American teenagers spend more than 10 hours consuming media every day. Girls between the ages of 11 and 14 see, on average, 500 ads a day. And what they see when they tune in are constant reminders that their value comes from how thin and pretty they are, and that you can never be thin or pretty enough. The latest reminders came from Allure magazine and Disney. On it’s June cover, Allure features Star Trek actress Zoe Saldana. The headline accompanying Ms. Saldana’s photo? “Zoe Saldana: 115 Pounds of Grit and Heartache” On it’s Facebook page, Allure posted. “The girl is a powerhouse. And we were so impressed by what a tough, confident woman Saldana is (on-screen, in her action-movie roles, and off) that we wanted to capture that. Uh, huh. Perhaps then the headline could have read, ““Zoe Saldana: This Girl’s Got [...]
