beauty.

I was hesitant about posting this, but after reading an article that was published on the same topic last week, I decided to share it. For my Senior Seminar we were allowed to pick any topic we wanted to to for our research paper. For awhile I was stumped, but my professor told me to find something that I was really interested in so I wouldn't get bored of looking up more information and writing over 15 pages. At first I was not sure why I was drawn to this topic. I reflected on why this topic fascinates me so much and think I have come up with some form of an answer.

Because it also affects me.

I am by no stretch of the imagination considered over weight. Yet I still focus on how much "better" my body could be. Does this make me vain? Or am I simply just a product of my environment?

If this does mean I am vain...I think most women out there are in the same boat as me. I do not obsess over my body, but it is something that is constantly in the back of my mind. I will find myself critiquing my body, and then seconds later tell myself how ridiculous I sound. Why do I play this battle in my mind where I have to convince myself I look fine, and that I know am pretty dang healthy? And what does this battle mean for other women? Some result in eating disorders, BDD, obesity, and others simply fix the "problem" by going under the knife. Since we had to narrow our topic down to be very specific, I decided to focus on plastic surgery, more specifically cosmetic surgery.

Why do so many women have body image issues?

I would just like to preface this paper by saying that I am not necessarily against cosmetic surgery. I do however think that women have taken it to a new level, and our society is starting to accept it. 

The feelings women have about their bodies is what most concerns me.

So if you have the time, please read and tell me your thoughts on this topic.

I would really love to hear some women's perspective on this.

Now please don't mind any spelling errors etc. that you might find in this paper, my parents already pointed out several to me! I turned it in a couple days after Christmas so I wasn't reading with the best of academic eyes at that point, haha.

 

P.S. Just a couple days ago my mother emailed me this link. This article made me decide to post my research paper. I know not everyone reading this is LDS but for those that are I thought you might find it interesting, especially if you live in Utah. Just some surprising statistics and more thoughts about exactly what I discuss in my paper.

An old friend and her sister have made this topic their mission in life :) check our their blog!