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Mirror on the Wall - A Frightening Look at Anorexia

Everywhere young girls look, they are bombarded with images of slender, beautiful women:  on television,  in magazines,   on the internet.   In fact, studies show that they – these young girls -  may just see more beautiful women in one day than their mothers saw in a lifetime (“Mirror, mirror.)  They face incredible pressure to meet impossible expectations.  As a result, many internalize a sense of anxiety and develop a negative body image.  In the poster above, a young girl stares into the mirror and can’t like what she sees – she probably never will.

Although there is a variety of color, the whiteness of the poster  dominates  the eye.  There is a white rug,  white furniture, a white page taped to the mirror.  Because the young girl standing in front of the mirror is clad in nothing more than her bra and panties, there is a lot of white skin.

Here, the reflection in the mirror represents a young girl’s thoughts about her inner self.  This girl is so skinny, she is nearly translucent.  She doesn’t see the bones sticking out of her skin;  instead,  she perceives how others must see her.  In her mind, she must think she is fat.  She must feel a great anxiety or pressure to live up to other people’s expectations.  Although she can’t control what others think about her, she must be able to control her hunger.  Clearly, she doesn’t eat.

The image in the mirror is such a complete distortion form the young girl standing in front of it. For starters,  the girl’s body is so depleted, her collarbone looks like it’s about to break skin from the inside out.  Her spine runs down the base of her back. There is supposed to be 26 bones in an adult body; it the picture was any  more clear, you would think that you could count on all 26, maybe even more.  They are sharp and pronounced.  At the bottom of her back, her spine becomes  wedged between the 2 hip bones to form a triangle.  Because there is a nearly complete absence of skin and/or insulation, it looks like she is held together by a wire coathanger.

The whiteness of her underwear can conjure up at least two things.  One, she is ghost like.  She is among the living dead.  Two, she probably has stopped having her period.  According to Mayra Hornbacher, this phenomenon commonly happens in anorexic girls (Wasted).  Low body weight in females causes the body to stop producing estrogen, resulting in a condition known as amenorrhea, or absent menstrual periods. Low estrogen levels contribute to significant losses in bone density. In this picture, this condition makes her legs look like chicken bones.

In this country, the most likely portion of our population to be affected by eating disorders are adolescent girls.  Puberty makes things worse.  The increase in body fat that develops around the hips and thighs leads young girls to believe they are too fat. A Harvard University study shows that at least 50 percent of all girls are unhappy with their appearance by the age of 13. By the time they are 17, 70 percent of them have begun diets.  80 percent will be frustrated with what they see in the mirror.

The designers of this add wanted to reach out to young girls, to show them how our media can influence the way they see themselves.  The women we see on TV, the internet, or in advertisements represent a false standard of beauty.  The young women who compare themselves to what they see on the screen set themselves up for disaster.  They’ll never live up to false expectations. The creators of this visual want to encourage girls to feel comfortable in their own bodies.

Works Cited

“Anorexia Bulimia Contact in the Mirror.” The Inspiration Room.  Grey Group.  4 Jan. 2008. Web. 5 June 2014.

 

Hornbacher, Marya. Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia. New York, NY: Harper CollinsPublishers, 1998. Print.

“Mirror, mirror.”  Vox Rationis.  Social Issues Research Center. 3 June 2014.  Web.  5 June 14.