One of the latest fads among the Hollywood elite is know as the "revenge diet." Celebrities like Reese Witherspoon and Kate Hudson are turning to diet and exercise in response to failed relationships; losing up to 2 dress sizes in the process.

"To suggest that there is glamour in women violently manipulating their bodies to 'get revenge' on former flames is a grotesque and damaging argument...There are so many wonderful people trying to fight [the epidemic], but until the media stops glorifying stick women, there's going to be a struggle."

Surveys have found that more than half of girls in grades seven through 12 are trying to lose weight, and have dieted within the past year. Though blame for eating disorders doesn't rest entirely on the media, it does send young girls the wrong message. Source: Times Colonist (Victoria, B.C., Canada)

Labels: celebrities, influences, role_models

Two years ago, actress Aisha Tyler appeared in a Glamour magazine article titled "I Don't Want To Be Perfect!" which included two pictures of her - one airbrushed and the other un-touched. Since then, she's joined Dove's Self-Esteem Fund where she helps girls across the country learn to love their bodies - no matter the shape or size.

"The best we can do is realize and understand that [fashion model] images are manipulated so we don't get seduced into believing that a 5'11" model who weighs 112 pounds is either realistic or healthy, and also that these ideals of perfection don't even exist for that model, who probably starves herself, is unhealthy because she smokes to stay thin, and needs all that airbrushing and retouching because she has terrible skin and all the other problems that all real, living, breathing women have. Of course, there are obviously some women out there who were just born tall and insanely thin and stay that way naturally. And they have their own problems just like everyone else."

Tyler goes on to say that trends are shifting in the fashion world, as designers realize that most women can't buy a size zero, forty-thousand-dollar suit.

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Labels: celebrities, influences, role_models