Discussion of NY Times article

The NY Times Article Parent & Child by Lawrence Kutner provides an alarming window into the teenage psyche as it relates to body image.  Eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia have been the subject of much media attention and social concern, but Kutner's article highlights the importance of body image issues in adolescents who do not suffer from these disorders as they are defined by the mental health community.  The article references a study conducted by Dr. James C. Rosen, a professor of psychology at the University of Vermont, in which 3,000 adolescents were surveyed about body image.  The study found that the majority of teens trying to loose weight are females, and the majority of these young ladies are currently at a normal weight.  Experts often blame this phenomenon on advertising, movies, and the media that relay images of unrealistically thin women to adolescent girls.  Kutner explains the effect body image issues can have on the self esteem and social habits of teen girls, and also offers advice to parents on how to address this issue.

This issue relates to a number of "common elements of oppression," namely tokenism.  Realistic expectations related to weight and physical appearance have been distorted by advertising and media entities that constantly bombard American youth with a warped definition of what is attractive and desirable.  The standard of beauty has changed throughout history, and often revolves around what is most difficult to achieve.  For example, Renaissance art depicts the female form at its most attractive as curvaceous.  This is likely because carrying extra weight was difficult due to a shortage of food, making a voluptuous body rare and desirable.  In today's fast food culture, obesity levels are on the rise and maintaining a thin frame is a challenge.  What seems like a natural swing of the pendulum, however, has turned into an epidemic as the media presents an exaggerated image of thin as beautiful.

Arguably, tokenism has given rise to the defined norm.  The few celebrities who have achieved this distorted standard of beauty serve as the norm to which many teenage girls compare themselves.  This constant oppression has a negative physical, psychological, emotional, and social effect on their lives during an already difficult stage.