Post Write for Second Draft of Trend

I think this version is a little bit better. I have an interview with my mother as well as a decades worth of data on various procedures and demographics. It came out to about 5 pages in word so I think it's long enough now.
Hit me with the complaints

Trend Second Draft

The quest for the fountain of youth is endless. Looking eternally young, once a thing reserved for the rich and famous, has trickled down to the masses, and it’s not just the women. Today we have more than just plastic surgery to beat father time, we have less invasive procedures which are less drastic, but still effective. Botox, Restylane, Perlane, Radiesse, laser skin rejuvenation, hair removal, laser cellulite treatments, stretch mark removal, and laser lipo are just a few of the beauty wonders technology has achieved. While plastic surgery can cost several thousand dollars and put you out of work for a while, medical aesthetic procedures have minimal downtime and are much more affordable, making them popular with the masses. Many people who are against plastic surgery because it alters how you look, many justify the use of fillers such as Botox, because when used properly, it maintains a look, not alters”56% of women say they approve of cosmetic surgery. 57% of men say they approve of cosmetic surgery. 31% of women and 20% of men would consider cosmetic surgery for self, now or in the future. 78% of women and 79% of men say that, if they had cosmetic surgery in the future, they would not be embarrassed if people outside their immediate family and close friends knew about it.” (ASAPS 2007) As a society we are justifying the means to preserve youth more and more.
Botox is derived from the toxin that causes botulism, it causes the muscle to freeze and reduces the appearance of lines and wrinkles, however, it was invented to stop eye spasms and has even been effectively used for migraines and excessive sweating (such as severe primary axillary hyperhidrosis.). It was first used cosmetically in April of 2002, and treatments have gone up exponentially. Even though there are 8 types of Botox toxin, the most stable and common form is Botulinum Toxin Type A. Some of the other types have not yet been approved for aesthetic use or are not yet approved in the U.S. Botox works by blocking the release of Acetylcholine (ACH) at neuromuscular junctions. In plain English this mean, that ACH, which is released by nerve cells to control muscle movement is inhibited so that there is less muscle movement. This helps to prevent muscles from deepening the wrinkles formed by repetitive contraction. As I have mentioned before, it began as a high end treatment and recently the masses have been taking advantage of it as well. There are even Botox parties which are considered the new and hot Tupperware party. Because there is usually a large number of people receiving the treatment there is a discount, which adds to the appeal.
Many people however still prefer the medical aesthetic spa since it feels like a more clinical and professional approach. These spas also offer many more treatments than just Botox. For example, you can get a liquid facelift which consists of Botox and Restylane. Or you could always do a skin rejuvenation series with lasers with minimal pain. Let’s says you don’t show off your legs because you have spider veins, those can be laser treated out too. Now let’s say that now you have spider vein free legs, but now you don’t want to shave, the medical aesthetic spa can zap away those hairs. Now you’re worried about cellulite on the beach or those stretch marks on your thighs, guess what, there’s a treatment for that too. Almost any beauty concern has a treatment, and if it doesn’t, they’re working on it. I myself have had a few treatments and I’m hooked. The more you do the more you want, because who doesn’t want to look great forever. People have always searched for the fountain of youth, might as well have the next best thing.
My mother is a registered nurse who with colleagues has been certified to administer fillers such as Botox and to perform certain laser treatments. I asked her if she felt that medical aesthetic procedures were on the rise. “Yes. Everybody wants to look and feel their best. I feel that not only is it on the rise, but that so far it’s at its peak, with Botox being the number one cosmetic procedure in the U.S. by far.” I also asked her about her prediction for this trend. “I think this trend will continue to grow because people are competitive. Even in the workplace, people are not just judged on their experience, but also on their personality and appearance and how they present themselves. If you have someone who is highly qualified, but looks old or careless and someone who is just as qualified who looks young and presentable, who do you think they’ll pick? Whether people are willing to admit it or not, there are two things that cannot be denied: people are judged by how they look and there is discrimination.” When asked about her views on aesthetic procedures she had this to say: “There’s nothing wrong with trying to look better or younger to an extent, if done for the right reasons like feeling better about yourself. There’s a limit to how far people should go, they need to have realistic expectations. If you’re 40 years old, you should try to look the best for your age, not like you’re 20.”
According to Empire Medical Training data provided at a training seminar we see the number of cosmetic surgery procedures in 1997 at 2,099,173 with it quadrupling in 2001 at 8,470,363 and in their last research year, 2007, those numbers were up to 11,701,031. The number of nonsurgical procedures was only 1,126,177 in 1997, but was up to 9,621,999 in 2007 (American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.) According to 2007 data: “Since 1997, there has been a 457 percent increase in the total number of cosmetic procedures. Surgical procedures increased by 114 percent and nonsurgical procedures increased by 754 percent.” The ASAPS also provide us with the numbers and percentages of men and women having cosmetic procedures and which were the top 5 surgical and nonsurgical procedures. “Women had nearly 10.6 million cosmetic procedures, 91 percent of the total. The number of cosmetic procedures for women increased 1 percent from 2006…Men had nearly 1.1 million cosmetic procedures, 9 percent of the total. The number of cosmetic procedures for men increased 17 percent from 2006. The top five surgical cosmetic procedures in 2007 were: liposuction (456,828 procedures); breast augmentation (399,440 procedures); eyelid surgery (240,763 procedures); abdominoplasty (185,335 procedures); and breast reduction (153,087 procedures). The top five nonsurgical cosmetic procedures in 2007 were: Botox injection (2,775,176 procedures); hyaluronic acid (1,448,716 procedures); laser hair removal (1,412,657 procedures); microdermabrasion (829,658 procedures); and IPL laser treatment (647,707 procedures).” They also give the top 5 surgical procedures for men and women as well as the top procedures for 18 and under and the age spectrum for procedures. “The top five surgical procedures for women were: breast augmentation, liposuction, eyelid surgery, abdominoplasty, and breast reduction. The top five surgical procedures for men were: liposuction, eyelid surgery, rhinoplasty, breast reduction to treat enlarged male breasts and hair transplantation. The most common procedures for age 18-and-under were: laser hair removal, microdermabrasion, chemical peel, otoplasty (ear reshaping) and rhinoplasty. People age 35-50 had the most procedures – 5.4. million and 46 percent of the total. People aged 19-34 had 21 percent of the procedures; age 51-64 had 25 percent; age 65-and-over had 6 percent; and age 18-and-younger had less than 2 percent. Americans spent just under $13.2 billion on cosmetic procedures last year.” Americans spent $4,752,340,323 on nonsurgical procedures in 2007 alone. Between 1997 and 2007 Botox alone had a percentage change of 4159.2% more-so than any other surgical or nonsurgical procedure. Statistics from the ASAPS also tell us that procedures among different races and ethnicities were divided up as such: “78.6% Caucasian, 8.8% Hispanic, 6.3% African-American, 4.5% people of Asian descent, 1.9% other.” The large majority of these procedures being done on Caucasian women makes me wonder just how much those girls in Orange County are contributing. As time goes on though, I feel cosmetic procedures will be even more for the masses and not just “the rich white girls.”

Information provided through Empire Medical Training with data supplied by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery gathered between 1997 and 2007. Seminar provided by Dr. Stephen Cosentino, Medical Director; Dr. Michael Sinclair, and W. Horninger. Interview provided by Flavia Thornson, Registered Nurse.

Post Write for Trend

This piece isn’t done at all. I have to interview my mother and get the scholarly articles together and my mother has all the numbers and charts of the number of procedures so I’ll add that in soon. Sorry I didn’t get this on the blog sooner, I was having trouble logging in.

Trend

The quest for the fountain of youth is eternal. Looking eternally young, once a thing reserved for the rich and famous, has trickled down to the masses, and it’s not just the women. Today we have more than just plastic surgery to beat father time, we have less invasive procedures which are less drastic, but still effective. Botox, Restylane, Perlane, laser skin rejuvenation, hair removal, laser cellulite treatments, stretch mark removal, and laser lipo are just a few of the beauty wonders technology has achieved. While plastic surgery can cost several thousand dollars and put you out of work for a while, medical aesthetic procedures have minimal downtime and are much more affordable, making them popular with the masses. Many people who are against plastic surgery because it alters how you look, many justify the use of fillers such as Botox, because when used properly, it maintains a look, not alters.

Botox is derived from the toxin that causes botulism, it causes the muscle to freeze and reduces the appearance of lines and wrinkles, it was however invented to stop eye spasms. It was first used cosmetically in April of 2002, and treatments have gone up exponentially. As I have mentioned before, it began as a high end treatment and recently the masses have been taking advantage of it as well. There are even Botox parties which are considered the new and hot Tupperware party. Because there is usually a large number of people receiving the treatment there is a discount, which adds to the appeal.
Many people however still prefer the medical aesthetic spa since it feels like a more clinical and professional approach. These spas also offer many more treatments than just Botox. For example, you can get a liquid facelift which consists of Botox and Restylane. Or you could always do a skin rejuvenation series with lasers with minimal pain. Let’s says you don’t show off your legs because you have spider veins, those can be laser treated out too. Now let’s say that now you have spider vein free legs, but now you don’t want to shave, the medical aesthetic spa can zap away those hairs. Now you’re worried about cellulite on the beach or those stretch marks on your thighs, guess what, there’s a treatment for that too. Almost any beauty concern has a treatment, and if it doesn’t, they’re working on it. I myself have had a few treatments and I’m hooked. The more you do the more you want, because who doesn’t want to look great forever. People have always searched for the fountain of youth, might as well have the next best thing.

Talk Back for Annotation

I probably should have made it a point to mention in my post write that I am working on a thesis paper which includes religious influences in Mycenae and how it catalyzed their civilization. They only had writing for business purposes so if we want to decipher anything about their beliefs we have to examine artifacts, including the grave circles. I annotated this article in the hopes that I might find something relelvant for my other paper. Sorry if it sounds plagiarized, but I assure you anything that was borrowed was quoted.

Post Write for Annotation

Ummmmmm..... Really don't know at all if I did this right. I have the flu and my head is a total fog. I think it's okay, not really too sure. I personally don't like this assignment in the least. It isn't creative, it isn't even really writing to me. It just seems like summarizing and crediting somebody elses work.
Maybe that's just my opinion

Annotation of a Scholarly Article

Stephanie Texeira

Bouwman, Abigail S., Keri A. Brown, A. John N.W. Prag, and Terence A. Brown. "Kinship between burials from Grave Circle B at Mycenae revealed by ancient DNA typing.(Report)." Journal of Archaeological Science 35.9 (Sept 2008): 2580(5). Academic OneFile. Gale. Bristol Community College. 19 Nov. 2008

This article illustrates the finding of similarities in the mitochondrial DNA sequences of individuals in Mycenaean Grave Circle B. By testing the mitochondrial DNA the researchers were able to find similarities amongst some of the remains and classify them, with one set even discovered to be brother and sister through the identification of the UK mitochondrial haplogroup,. This mitochondrial DNA research in addition to facial reconstructions allowed for these classifications. They also used the positions of the burials to determine the status of these remains and determined that the “sister” must have been an important figure, due to her position in the grave circle. The article is recently published (September of 2008) and was published in the “Journal of Archaeological Science”, a highly credible source. Dr. Abigail Bouwman belongs to the Faculty of Life Sciences Department at the University of Manchester, Keri A. Brown and John Prag both belong to the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology research team, nothing could be found of Terence A. Brown’s credentials , but he too assisted on the research team in Mycenae. It is a thorough summary of the finds in Mycenae, the research and effort put into the difficult ancient DNA testing and facial reconstruction, and the efforts of the team to give us a clearer understanding.

Post Write Proposal

I have to say I think it came out pretty well, my only concerns are on format. Not just technical format, but the actual composition. I'll be completely honest, I wrote this late at night (or early morning depending on how you view it) I moved stuff around in the paper and it seemed to read well, but we'll have to see once I'm fully awake. I'm pretty sure I hit all the marks, problem, solution, concerns, benefits, sources.

Proposal

People often joke about how little money college students have and it’s sad, but true nonetheless. Even community college students, who have considerably lower tuition, still have to dole out quite a lot of money, especially for books. I have never met a student who found book prices to be reasonable and with the current economic crisis, things are getting worse. Students utilize many options to get around this, but there needs to be a solution.
On average I pay about $500 for books per semester, that’s more than my phone bill or the cost of a new computer, and more than the price of a course at some community colleges. It seems that every semester or two a new edition of a book is published or professors change texts. I’ve also had the unfortunate experience of having to buy a book written by a professor. When these book changeovers occur, students must get new copies, since used ones don’t yet exist. Some teachers will only give a book title and leave the edition number to your discretion. While this provides a great opportunity to buy used books it also causes a great deal of confusion amongst students when they are given an assignment on page 96 and it’s 3 different topics in 3 different editions. There are also problems in selling back books in order to afford new books. A bookstore might sell you a book at their full price and only give you a miniscule percentage back for it and then sell it to another student for double what they gave you for it. They also might give you little to nothing if a new edition is being used.
“As the end of the semester rapidly approaches, students are contemplating what to do with their hulking pile of textbooks. Should they sell them back to the bookstore, keep them or donate them to charity?Senior David Conteh has accumulated dozens of expensive books from the past two semesters - spending hundreds of dollars - but due to the realities of low-pay back, has hung on to most of them.Conteh said he has spent almost $800 in the past on books, often because he said his chemistry and biology books are especially expensive.‘Some individual books cost me $100 and above (and) when I try to sell it back, sometimes they say they're changing the edition and they'll buy it back for next-to-nothing or they won't buy it at all,’ Conteh said. ‘So I've kept most of them.’”
(Source: from the online edition of Cardinal Points, the student newspaper of Plattsburgh State University College.)

My solution proposal is to join forces as students. By holding a student trade and sell day before the start of classes and during the first week of each semester and working with professors to eliminate the number of books or changing of editions I believe we could save many people a lot of money. By also using eBooks, or online copies of text material, not only could we save money, but we could save some trees. It would also be a great help if professors reevaluated their syllabi and tried to limit their lessons to as few texts as possible.
Many classes update editions or have you buy workbooks or supplemental materials and the like, which many students never use. I had a biology class in which the professor made us buy a textbook as well as a workbook she and some colleagues had published. It was obviously in her best financial interest to sell more copies, but many students did not use it, myself included. This was because almost no assignments called for it, it was mostly there as a guide. Yet there we were, 20 some odd students with a $40 workbook in mint condition. If only one copy of the book were purchased and only the necessary pages photocopied, we could have all saved some money. This also brings into play the concept of online textbooks. While some websites host this, it is, dismally, another fee. If universities purchased rights to these books and sold cheap passes to students for annual use the school would still make money, but students would also save a great deal. The most practical solution, I feel is to instate a few days the week before and during the first week of each semester for students to be able to trade and sell their books to other students for reasonable prices. Since online purchasing can often be unreliable or delayed, this would provide a great opportunity for both sides. Students would get to see the actual condition of the books at purchase time, negotiate prices, and those selling would make more than the bookstore would give them. Unfortunately, somewhere along the lines someone will have to take on the burden of full priced textbooks. I see it like buying a car. You can buy them used, but in good condition, but someone has to buy the new ones for you to get your deal later, and eventually you have to upgrade to the newest model, but you can put if off for a while until the old model becomes obsolete. I don’t feel too bad for the publishing companies since they would still be making money. According to The Montage (the paper for St. Louis Community College –Meramac) “According to the Government Accountability Office, in 2005, textbook prices outpaced inflation 2 to 1 in the past 20 years. The price of textbooks has increased twice as fast as the value of the dollar.”
If students everywhere use their right to assembly, we can fight the rising costs of textbooks.










Sources:
Crugnale, James . "Many students upset over low buy-back rate from textbooks." Cardinal Points 20 April 2007 3 Nov 2008 .

Barker, Luke. "Digital Textbooks: a cheap alternative in today's overpriced education." The Montage 2 October 2008 3 Nov 2008 .

Talk Back to News Story

This was by far probably the worst paper I've written to date. I know it's just pretty much a reiteration of the what was in the book. My intent was to get a large survey together and to make my own story out of it. Unfortunately the circumstances didnt allow for that. I probably should have just changed topics, but to be honest, I didn't know what to write about. I think one of the issues with this assignment was that everyone had to reiterate someone elses article because none of us really have the resources to go and get an "original" story.

News Article Post Write

I feel that this news article is by no means done. I want to try to collect my own data and then make an analysis. I know that this piece is much briefer right now than my usual. I hope to have a second draft posted by tomorrow

News Article

Any search of the phrase ‘plagiarism survey’ pulls up thousands of references to articles and surveys in search of the truth, or as much truth as can be found among plagiarists. There are multiple references to the climbing numbers of plagiarism cases.

According to the article from The Daily Free Press by Grace Lin, Twenty-Five Percent of Students Plagiarize, a survey done online of students from nine colleges showed that 25% of those students plagiarized “sometimes to very frequently.” My initial reaction was that these numbers seemed high and that perhaps the definition of plagiarism was not completely clear. Perhaps what some felt was plagiarism, was not, or vice versa.

As I began to look more into the issue, it seemed that perhaps those numbers were in fact too low. With the advent of the internet, clearly it has become much easier to obtain completed essays and easily appealing articles to use, and the problem has exponentially increased. According to the survey 80% of annual academic misconduct cases are due to plagiarism. All is not lost however, many programs have been developed and protocol put into place in order to assist teachers in catching and reprimanding these students.

The article does not come with a publish date, nor a date for when the study was conducted. I would like to personally conduct an anonymous survey and see if the numbers differ, especially since BCC and Boston University vary greatly in size. I will continue this article once I have obtained my own data.

Essay of Application Talk Back

Sorry that this is late, as I said in my email, I've had some technical difficulties as of late.

The college was Northeastern University, and they utilize the common application, the problem is that they tell you to submit any essay. I simply took it upon myself to write why I wanted to do what I wanted to do. As far as my interest in forensics, I probably should explain more about my decisions originally to pursue that career and why I changed my mind, I will do this in a later draft. I think the reason I didn't explain more in this draft was because I was afraid to do too much story telling. There isn't exactly one end-all explanation.

Essay of Application Post Write

To be completely honest, I really hate this essay. I think it came out horrible. I looked up Northeastern's application and after a wild goose chase found out that they use the Common Application which tells you to include an essay of your choice. So with no prompt I just wrote what I want to do, why I want to do it, and why they can help. I think it's blah. I don't like writing without a good prompt and I didn't care much for the ones in the book either. I don't think my essay is creative or would even be picked, but thankfully I have some time to work on fixing it.

Essay of Application

My entire life I’ve been surrounded by people in the medical profession and even attended nursing school with my mother when I was a child. Due to these early experiences, I knew that I too wanted to work in the medical field. It was love at first sigmoid. During high school I decided to take forensic science and a basic anatomy in order to get a head start.

Once I graduated high school I was certain I wanted to pursue a career as a medical examiner. Though many others found it eerie and gross, I found it to be interesting and exciting, as well as helpful. As I progressed into my first year of college, I was advised (especially by my mother) to be a plastic surgeon or an anesthesiologist. Although these were interesting and rewarding careers, they didn’t pique my interest. Then, as I began my second year of college, I found what I felt was my ideal career. I began getting laser skin treatments for acne and some months later my mother helped start a new medical aesthetics spa and then I knew.

By getting a degree as a physician’s assistant and training in dermatology and medical aesthetics I can achieve my ultimate goal. I will be able to enjoy my career and be able to start a family. As a physician’s assistant I can enjoy more time and freedom than I would as an M.D.

Through Northeastern University I would be able to earn my degree and hopefully get an internship so I would be able to gain valuable experience, since I feel that internship provides a critical and effective role in preparing for a career.

Post Write - This I Believe

I think it came out... okay. I didn't really know what I believed and then this sappy little piece came out. I threw it together, since in my own thoughts I felt a belief essay should be written as it would be said not rehearsed and drafted. I'm a little worried about the style and format and whether this even works as a radio essay, since I've never done one. I know it's really corny, but aside from that does it do anything for anybody? Does it make sense to anyone but me?

This I Believe

It only takes one person, one moment, one simple event, to change your entire life. The best part is you never know when or how it will happen to you. It’s amazing how sometimes, as if by a miracle, it happens when you need it most. You may not know what you need or what you believe anymore, but fate sends you some message to let you know to keep trying, keep moving and not give up. To help renew whatever faith you may have lost along the way.

It’s distressing to me that only about half of all marriages will last, that we’ve developed into a society which relies on couples therapy and open dating in order for relationships to succeed. After recovering from many a failed relationship, I wondered what was wrong with me. I had more than once been betrayed, cheated on, lied to, and simply left for someone else. I was often left with no explanation and forced to wonder “why?”

I finally had it when I suffered a particularly bad breakup. He had been seeing the girl next door more and more frequently and after 2 weeks of beating around the bush had a friend pass the message that it was over. I was torn. Things weren’t great in the relationship, but I hadn’t seen this coming. When I finally mustered up the strength to call him, his only explanation was that he wanted to “test new waters.” I decided to take some “me” time and attempt to figure out what I wanted, especially once I decided to go back to dating. Enough was enough, I wasn’t going to appease everyone anymore and let myself be walked on. When I finally met a great new guy and the cards started to play out, I decided to be true to myself first and him second. If he didn’t like this new me, I would just move on, and be fine with that.

I believe in love. Not just love for others, but a love of myself that isn’t the least bit narcissistic. Because of this newfound love and because I stopped trying to please everyone else first, I was ready to love and be loved, and I found that. I’m finally truly happy, even if I had to be by myself, and that’s something I will gladly believe in. I finally found a man who appreciates me, who compliments me, and who helps me to fulfill my dreams. He motivates and inspires me and gives me the strength to keep going. He has helped me to truly appreciate myself. He keeps me sane when I drive myself crazy. He gives me a shoulder to lean on and a hand to hold. He’s the sign fate sent to renew my faith in love.

Talk Balk on Women and Eating Disorders

I'm glad that I managed to get my point across, since I was worried about the clarity of the piece. I will definitely take into consideration adding a more convincing point about new-gen. models expressing different beauty than the 80's. On my personal piece, I do feel that it helps to support my point that the media is not entirely to blame and helps show the other side. It definitely, I think needs a bit of editing and reduction. I do think that there is a lesson in it, and I'm going to attempt to make that same point while being a bit more concise.

Thanks for your feedback!

Post-Write on Women and Eating Disorders Essay

I feel that my paper is in decent shape right now. To me, it’s a fairly good length (about 2 pages.) I’m very opinionated about the topic and I have a lot to say about it as is clear when reading it. I definitely feel I need to do a little bit of cleaning up and editing, and I’m sure something is off grammatically, somewhere. I’m a little worried about a few things, whether my ideas are clearly enough stated, and whether they sound right (since I like many people tend to write like I speak sometimes.) I also wonder if the portion with my personal experiences is too long, I know we were supposed to include our opinion on influence and personal experience, but I also realize it isn’t an auto-biography. Any feedback from anyone would be great!

Woman and Eating Disorders

Jean E. Kilbourne states in her essay, "Beauty...And the Beast of Advertising." that women and young girls are being influenced by media icons to be overly concerned with their weight and that the girls affected by this are becoming younger and younger. Kilbourne tells us of a Glamour magazine survey which showed that 75% of it's readers felt overweight. This survey however, was conducted in 1984, a fact which I feel skews Kilbourne's point. While the media surely has some influence over us, I don't believe that women's body issues stem solely from what they see in magazines and on runways. I also believe that the ideal body of a woman has significantly changed since 1984.

Once in a psychology class, as I studied the eating disorders, I found myself to be the perfect candidate for anorexia, which raised the question, “How did I manage to break the mold?” Many young girls and women suffer from eating disorders and have distorted images of themselves, but is the media totally to blame? I do agree with Kilbourne to an extent that the media plays a role in these disorders, but I feel that there is much more behind it. A person’s psychological health and stability plays an enormous role, as does the environment and parenting style in which they were reared, and their daily exposure to the media and their peers.

In support of Kilbourne’s ideas I have to recognize the constant media exposure which promoted a waif-type body to be the ideal. We are constantly reminded to pay attention to weight, whether our own or that of others. We have shows such as The Biggest Loser which show us obese people struggling to lose weight; and while loser refers to losing weight it also subconsciously bears a negative connotation. On the other end of the spectrum we have shows such as America’s Next Top Model and Make Me a Supermodel in which aspiring models compete for highly desirable modeling positions. Weight gain and loss is carefully monitored and criticized. Another issue is that it is impossible to go to a store and not find the cover of at least one magazine shouting to the world that some celebrity has gained weight or was photographed with cellulite and criticizing them. One could argue that this provides an inappropriate mold for girls (and in some cases boys) to try to fit.

I can personally say that I have struggled with body image issues and I have seen friends battling eating disorders. I feel that peers influenced my low self esteem and self worth, as well as my negative body image at the time. I can also say with almost certainty that those people I know who have struggled with the same issues felt the same pressures. I believe age is another important factor, for example, a girl in middle school will most likely compare herself to her peers, while a teenage girl is more likely to compare herself to peers as well as role models in the media. Teasing and name calling at a young age as well as environments which make these children susceptible to criticism, I feel, can negatively impact their psyche and their body image. In my own experience, I was very thin as a child, but in my pre-pubescent years, I , like many other girls my age, gained what was affectionately called “baby fat”. While many of my peers began to melt away into womanly figures, I hid in my clothes and tried to figure out why I didn’t look like them. I had been an avid swimmer up to that point, but as name-calling and criticism began, I slowly discontinued my favorite sport. To add insult to injury, I also got braces and glasses around the same time.

When high school came, I decided to try to reinvent my image since many didn’t know me, I couldn’t do anything about my weight, but changed my style and avoided my glasses as much as possible. I never could achieve the perfect hair, perfect clothes, perfect everything that many people seemed to possess, but I worked around it. My weight still bothered me since I would buy clothes that I loved and then feel awkward and fat if my stomach showed, I hated one piece bathing suits, but hated how I looked in a bikini. I finally had enough the day my own mother called me fat. I started swimming on a team 6 days a week for a year and lost some weight, but in my mind still not enough. Since then I have changed my diet, since somehow I avoided the clutches of eating disorders that claimed some of my friends.

Earlier this year I was given an enormous boost of confidence, when I was scouted for a modeling agency. Somehow this was a seal of approval from a group of people who didn’t owe me anything, but an honest opinion. Since then I have felt more confident in myself and more motivated to actively take care of myself and my weight. And if I put on a few pounds, I try to change my diet and work it off, instead of hating myself. It could be argued that modeling increases societal pressure, but I believe it depends on the environment.

In the 80’s and 90’s models were encouraged to be waifs. Shapeless, curve-less, incredibly thin women were the ideal and I feel that this created extreme pressure on women everywhere. If we look at the career of Kate Moss, one of the most influential models of the 90's, we see this ultra thin woman as being the ideal. She was featured on the cover of Vogue numerous times and has been featured on a total of 300 magazine covers. At the peak of her career she may have inspired some girls and perhaps even caused a few self image problems. Thankfully, the newer generations of models are curvier and more realistic. While still thin, supermodels such as Heidi Klum and Gisele Bündchen are the new ideal and many agencies are promoting this image. While many celebrities are still being criticized for weight gain, many of them now are being criticized for too much weight loss. In working with my modeling agency I have seen how much more supportive the business is now than it ever was before. All talent, models, actors, singers, and dancers are encouraged to eat well and exercise moderately and to live healthy lifestyles. While our progress is monitored, we aren’t criticized to lose weight, and anyone who seems to be losing too much weight or seems to have a problem is pulled aside and can be pulled from the agency for unhealthy behaviors. They also make sure that education is a priority and anyone who is failing in school and putting too much emphasis on modeling, can be suspended. They promote a healthy environment which shows that health and education are first, and modeling comes later.

I strongly believe that if trends such as these continue that young women and men could begin to overcome eating disorders and start to live healthier lifestyles. We often joke that women always hate something about themselves, but it’s no laughing matter. Supportive environments and less criticism of public figures, celebrities, and role models can help people start to accept and improve themselves in healthy ways. It is unrealistic to assume we can completely eliminate eating disorders, but lowering the number of cases is attainable and crucial to saving lives and helping future generations.