How healthy is the United States perspective on women? The Annotico report from May, 2007, notes that the World Health Organization study on longevity reveals the United States ranks 32nd in the world for women, well behind countries such as Italy, France and Spain. My conclusion is that the current view of desirability in  women’s bodies has caused a decline in the well-being of women since Twiggy began the anorexic look of the 1960’s.
 

     Mary (not her real name) is a beautiful woman.  When her blue eyes dance and her lips compress a little as they curve upward, she has one of the most gorgeous smiles I have ever seen.  Her complexion is flawless, and Mary smiles with her whole self:  you can feel the interest, the humor and the emotion that flow from her. Her hair is soft and naturally shines and flows with health. If the great classical master Raphael were alive today, he would paint her as a Roman Goddess or a loving mother.  Her friends (me included) know her to be a warm, loving, and generous person Her husband loves her, and knows how lucky he is to have this wonderful, intelligent beauty as his wife. Her daughters adore her, and they do not yet realize how fortunate they are to have a mother who sets such a great example for them in every way but one. 

     That one exception?  The fact that she doesn’t like herself the way she is because her body doesn’t match the ‘skinny standard’ touted on every billboard and commercial.

      Another friend of mine who is a psychologist, spent some time in Italy.  When he was relating some of his experiences there, one them was his observations about women.  He said that it amazed him that women ‘flowed’ in Italy.  They moved their bodies as if they liked themselves, with an assurance and self-confidence that struck him like a rock in the forehead after being so used to American women who often seem to hate their own bodies. And why not?  Italy has long adored its women, celebrating their beauty and their natural form.  Leonardo Da Vinci’s view of women in his artwork is the rule, not the exception, of how the natural beauty of women is regarded.

      How healthy is the United States perspective on women? The Annotico report from May, 2007, notes that the World Health Organization study on longevity reveals the United States ranks 32nd in the world for women, well behind countries such as Italy, France and Spain. My conclusion is that the current view of desirability in  women’s bodies has caused a decline in the well-being of women since Twiggy began the anorexic look of the 1960’s.

     Twiggy had a metabolism problem that made her skeletal in spite of the fact that she ate copious amounts of food (including ice cream.)  To duplicate her thinness, women with normal metabolisms have fallen to the states of anorexia, bulimia, and substance abuse. These disorders originate with self-hate when a girl looks in the mirror and decides that her body isn’t thin enough and that no one will like her because she is ‘fat’.  And this is not an occasional, odd malady that affects our girls.  Studies have shown that 40-60% of high-school girls are on a diet and 40% of our 9 year olds have already, at some point, been dieting.  

     This is not wink-and-nod phase for our children.  By engaging in destructive diet-related habits, they put themselves at risk for kidney failure, anemia, malnutrition and osteoporosis.  They may render themselves unable to conceive.  Stomach and intestinal problems can develop that will be difficult, if not impossible, to solve.  And the biggest killer is cardiac arrest.  That makes severe dieting not just an unhealthy trend that leads to cutting years off the end of their lives, but a state which can destroy the quality of life and even kill..  Anorexia is a dangerous disorder with the highest mortality rate of any eating disorder! 5-20% of the women and girls with anorexia develop severe complications and die.