BODY IMAGE

"If the average size in the country is 40, and the beauty model is size 0, is it any wonder we feel frustrated?" (Adi Barkan, from lecture)

the relationship between eating disorders and body image - how we perceive our body - becomes more apparent over the years. Today it is clear that eating disorders reflect serious problems in our image and perception of the body: from concern regarding body image through negative body image, improper attitudes and thoughts regarding eating, using harmful methods to regulate body weight until totally losing control manifesting in the development of an eating disorders (Walzer, Spivak, Tzishinsky, 2012 ).

In the western culture, a connection was made between our body image and the perception of our success: We believe that attractive people are more successful, and accordingly, in order to succeed on our own, we must have a nice body (Brennan, Lalonde, Bain, 2010).

The problem is that the beauty model is dictated by the mass media which determines a single beauty model. Anyone who believes that his body does not meet the correct criteria - may suffer from body image problems. We easily forget the beautiful people on TV, in magazines, paparazzi shots and commercials look like that after hours of make-up, hair, styling and Photoshop; These are people who work to be lean until they are sick; These are people who invest thousands of dollars in plastic surgery, hair transplants, teeth whitening. And after all that - their images are processed by leading experts. We do not have a chance to look like that - and we should not aspire to it. Studies conducted over the past decade indicate that the gap between the ideal reality only widens every year.

Dissatisfaction with the body structure and shape and negative body image perception are defined as a subjective sense of thought and negative feeling about physical appearance. Distortion in the body image relates to wrong perception of reality regarding the shape and dimensions of the body, especially among teenage girls.

Simply You believes that there is a close relationship between our exposure to the uniform beauty model and our expectations of ourselves and our body to fit this model.

Studies show a direct link between exposure to mass culture and body image distortion: a review analyzed all existing studies so far concluded that exposure to the media is related to higher levels of internalization, dissatisfaction from one's body and symptoms of eating disorders. The effect was more significant for girls under 18 than for older women (Grabe, Ward, & Hyde, 2008; Levine & Murnen, 2009).

An Australian study published in 2013 examined the relationship between young girls (ages 10-12), their online presence on Facebook, their thin beauty model and their tendency to diet. The study found a direct correlation between the dimensions: the more they were exposed to mass media, on television or on social networks, the more they had problems with their body image and dieting were more likely (Tiggeman & Slater, 2013).

"In a world where size 40 is extra large, how you will not have body image issues?", wonders simply you founder Adi Barkan. "Apart from 5-6% which are genetically lean and thin, no one feels that he's worth something."

"The beauty model causes at least 50 percent of body image problems. Daughters do diet because they want to be seen based on the beauty model. Unfortunately, there is only one beauty model. We need to define what is thin and what is too thin, and create a more diverse beauty model".

Tair Dahan, 22, weighs 60 pounds, speaks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wa0yGYPaBoQ