"Appearance and Attraction"

The title of this post was the topic of the lecture tonight in my class on Nonverbal Communication. It was quite interesting and we talked a lot about how we form opinions and impute favorable characteristcs to people based on their "attractiveness". Now I know we are all horrified to think this is the case, but it really is.
We also talked a lot about self image and how people's self concept can be distorted by the cultural norms or ideals. One that we talked about was women's perception of themselves. Most women view at least one part of their body as "fat". Most men would choose to be taller. It seems that none of us are satisfied with how we are!
It reminded me of Sassy's post about her recent weight loss. She posted a pic and I think everyone agrees that she looks great and has done a great job losing weight and taking care of her health. Sassy commented in her post about looking in the mirror and still seeing herself as "fat" or at least not where she thinks she should be. Even though she goes to the store and buys size 6-8, her mind is still thinking/feeling like she's in a 14. How many of us have done this? If we answer honestly, probably a lot of us have had the same or similar experience. I know I have looked at old pictures and thought, "Wow, I really looked thin there", but I think back, and ask myself if I thought of myself as thin THEN. I never felt like I was thin then, I always felt like I needed to be different than I was.

Unfortunately, Barbie is still the ideal that is put before us and portrayed in the media and to our kids. Girls as young as 4th and 5th graders report "dieting". This is crazy! I hope our country's focus on fitness and health will someday expand where we can address the health of women's self concept. Maybe Carson Kressley's new show will help. It certainly can't hurt!