A new documentary titled "America the Beautiful" tells the story of Gerren Taylor, a young girl who lived the dream of so many young girls by becoming a fashion model. But by her early teens, her career dissipated as quickly as it had developed, and Taylor was told that, as a size 4, she was too big for the runway.

"'America the Beautiful,' the third film and first documentary by Chicago-based [Darryl] Roberts, is a questioning, broad-ranging look at the culture of beauty and physical perfection in the United States. Roberts' goal, as he describes it, was simple. He wanted to find out why Americans have become beauty-obsessed."(The Buffalo News)

"We can get the hair extensions, the fake nails and makeup, and all that, but the real person's on the inside," Gerren told writer Elizabeth Kaye McCall. "If you have a great personality and can just be yourself, you're beautiful. If you think you're the bomb, you are the bomb."

Labels: awareness, modeling, perceptions

A new study conducted by doctors at the National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., has found that peer groups strongly influence not only a girl's perception of her body, but also the methods she uses to control her weight.

"More specifically, girls identifying with athletic peers.... were less concerned about their own weight and seemed less likely to be trying to control their weight. Girls identifying with non-conformist peers.... were more concerned about their weight and appearance and more likely to be actively trying to lose weight.... Finally, girls who did not belong to any particular peer group were the most likely to use slimming strategies."

According to the study's authors, this information reveals pathways through which peer groups can exert influence on a girl's body image and weight control practices, meaning that girls in certain groups can be identified as "at risk" and given special attention. Source: MedicalNews Today

Labels: influences, peers, perceptions

Chloe recalls starving herself when she was 13 years old. Not because she was overweight, but simply because she wasn't as skinny as a lot of her friends. It's a kind of competition among girls that's becoming more common, due in large part to peer influence that is stronger now than it has been in decades.

"Richard Hersh calls it the culture of neglect: kids growing up overly dependent on their peers - 'in essence, kids raising kids' - without developing a strong sense of self...[Parents, neighbors, teachers, professors] allow them to be socialized by television, the internet, and by their peers rather than by caring, demanding, and mentoring adults."

Hersh also contends that parents try too hard to shelter their kids, leaving them socially and emotionally fragile and therefore more susceptible to peer pressure. College can be especially hard, where girls are surrounded by other young, pretty, and possibly skinnier girls. It can cause a shift in perceived reality, making girls think and feel as though they're overweight, even if they're dangerously thin. Source: Psychology Today

Labels: influences, peers, perceptions

A fashion show at the Liverpool Community Church in New York has re-defined "beauty" for both participants and spectators alike. Models of various shapes and sizes took the spotlight in this event, hosted by Ophelia's Place – an organization dedicated to helping people with eating disorders.

"'Whether you're full sized, whether you're medium sized, all of us have an incredible part of who we are that's very, very beautiful,' said Fashion Model Emme. Fashion Model Emme has always accepted her plus size figure... she's made a successful career out of it."

Mary Ellen Clausen, Founder and Director of Ophelia's Place, is concerned with the images and messages that dominate the media. She hopes to counteract some of those messages by giving girls the opportunity to be around a "plus size" model like Emme. Read more at 9WSYR.com.

Labels: fashion, modeling, perceptions