Body Wars: Project Proposel

Imagine New York City, a bustling metropolis of a little over 8 million people. Now, picture every single inhabitant of NYC as bone thin and wasting away. If every single American with an eating disorder was grouped together in one area they would overtake the entire population of the Big Apple. There is a very high possibility that someone you know, possibly even someone close to you, suffers from an eating disorder. It is more common than you would think, and that is an inconvenient truth. My freshman year my older sister, Lindsey, suffered from Bulimia. She was never overweight, though. I guess some would describe her as “thick,” but she was athletic so it fit her. I’m not sure when it started, and I didn’t even find out until last year. I just thought that she was losing weight unintentionally. Last winter my friend Janice told me that she, too, suffered from Bulimia and another of my good friends is diagnosed as suffering form “Anorexia Nervosa combined with Exercise Bulimia.” It’s a long name to say what is plain and simple. She is killing herself.
My project proposal is that I would like to research body image and the effect media has on it. Too many women and men suffer from eating disorders and I want to know why. I think that this topic is something that everyone should be educated on because it is so serious. Most people overlook the body image crisis, but it is ruining the youth of America. Not only does it affect teenagers, but there is a shocking number of children and women suffering. In a world where the media is overrun by “the perfect 10” our nation is forgetting about the size 10s and every other size below a 2.This topic is extremely personal to me because so many people I know have been affected by it. I believe that the media has a large impact on the way people think. With Victoria’s Secret ads popping up every 2 commercials and famous actresses weighing about 40 pounds, it’s easy to see that the media plays a large part in this inconvenient truth.
In my paper I hope to uncover the psychological and physiological consequences of eating disorders. I’d also like to figure out why so many people are suffering from theses, and how they can be stopped. If the media can see what they are doing to the impressionable minds of Americans then maybe they can help to solve the problem that they helped to create. Something needs to be done, and I want to find out what that “something” is.