Pressure to Be Thin: The Plague of Hollywood

1. Pressure to Be Thin: The Plague of Hollywood

2. Some Facts: • The average American woman is 5’4” and weighs 140 lbs. • The average television icon is 5’7” and weighs 100 lbs. • The average American model is 5’11” and weighs 117 lbs. • Most fashion models are thinner than 98% of American women

3. An Infectious Disease Today’s Hollywood places a considerable amount of pressure upon its actresses to be extremely thin and waif-like. As a result, most American women experience a similar pressure – the pressure to look like Hollywood stars.

4. Yesterday’s Hollywood 1930s: Bette Davis illuminates Hollywood at 5’2” and an average weight. 1950s: Marilyn Monroe becomes America’s top pin-up icon at 5’5.5” and roughly 130 lbs.

5. The shift toward rail-thin models and actresses began in the 1960s when Twiggy, 5’7” and 91 lbs., emerged on to the scene.

6. Today’s Hollywood Today, many female Hollywood stars are extremely thin. Exposure to such unhealthy and unrealistic ideas of body image negatively affects young girls and women through depression, the loss of self-esteem, and the development of eating disorders.

7. Kirsten Dunst: 5’7”, 115 lbs. Kate Bosworth: 5’5”, 100 lbs.

8. The Results • 80% of women admit that they are insecure about their bodies compared to those in the media. • In the U.S., 5 to 10 million people suffer from eating disorders • Of those with eating disorders, more than 90% are women between the ages of 12 and 25.

9. The Bottom Line • The National Eating Disorders Association lists as one of the contributing factors to eating disorders “cultural pressures that glorify thinness and place value on obtaining the perfect body”. • While Hollywood continues to promote these images through its movies, American women will continue to suffer the consequences.