"IT
is clear that a very large
percentage of American women are unhappy
with their bodies," says Joan Jacobs Brumberg,
author of "The Body Project: An Intimate
History of American Girls," (1998). "That
kind of unhappiness begins very, very
early in life," she says.
 |
| Models
like Kate Moss (above) with stick-thin
bodies add to women's insecurities,
says Brumhberg. |
This
is not a problem that disappears with
maturity, according to Brumberg, who
also wrote "Fasting Girls: The History
of Anorexia Nervosa," (1988).
The
rise of plastic surgery, the prevalence
of dieting and the high number of women
in therapy are examples she says prove
that women still suffer from self-esteem
problems.
Women
still feel unhappy about the way the
advertising industry portrays females,
according to Myra Stark, director of
knowledge management at advertising
agency Saatchi and Saatchi. In 1996,
the firm surveyed women ages 20 to 50
across the U.S. to determine whether
women’s major concerns, goals and problems
were reflected in advertising.
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