Are you influenced by what the world says women are supposed to look like?
Every magazine, TV ad and bill board has some beautiful, slim woman advertising something. I really think we need to teach our young girls that wearing a size 2 is just not cut out for everyone. Don't you?

Jasmine, this is so true. I saw a segment recently that showed just how much Photoshop goes into magazine ads. The actual model and the edited photograph looked like two completely different people. I don’t understand why we continue to uphold a standard that’s physically impossible to achieve.

I have seen videos like this on YouTube. You should look them up, as they are shocking. I showed my teenager, and she seemed unsurprised. With my weight issues, I don't know how I managed to raise a teenaged daughter with a healthy weight AND body concept, but I am sure glad!

I think there is a lot of pressure put on women to be skinny. It's sad that young girls look up to the figures on magazines when they are usually photo shopped anyway. I would much rather be fit, strong and healthy than a size zero!

Size zero is really not sexy to me as a man anyways. I have to say, with the hip hop culture flaunting big sexy booty and women of a bigger nature, many men are more apt to find that attractive instead. That's one positive thing that has come out of hip hop. Yes, they are not treating women correctly either but that's another debate for another time.

There are many models out there now who are size 10, 12, and up who actually look really good. I agree, don't try to put yourself in a box that someone else designs.

When you consider that the average woman in the US is a size 12, the push for women to strive for a size 2 is pretty unreal. As a person who was once too skinny, I never want to drop below a size 8 again. I'd like to keep some curves!

I recently read a Blog article about how mannequins in Venezuela are changing to reflect what people there have come to expect women to look like. You should see the mannequins! They look like they are wearing size 0-2 pants but are stacked with probably DD chests. Some of the shop owners displaying those mannequins were interviewed and were quoted as admitting to telling their customers to have plastic surgery to help them look like that. According the the article, the culture there has changed so much that now, women who have NOT had plastic surgery are deemed inferior to women who have.

I do really hate the beautiful skinny celebrity/model thing. All the air brushing's ridiculous and I always feel inferior to the women that have spent hours in hair and make up. However, I don't really agree with the new thing here where they're making plus size mannequins. I know there are plenty of plus size people out there - I was one! But with the health risks associated with being larger, I do think all shops should use something like a size 12 for mannequins where it's kind of a happy medium! I don't like the tiny mannequins you get in places like hollister either, being that skinny can be just as bad for your health and the vast majority of people would never be able to be that size anyway cos physically they're just not made up like that!

I think that magazines and advertisements that alter photos should have to make a disclaimer in small print saying that they've altered the photo. They do this with everything, not just people. The model doesn't look as good in person, but then again, neither does that McDonald's hamburger.

There was a case here a while back where a company had to change their advert cos they'd spray painted a turkey and it looked nothing like a turkey actually would if you cooked it the mcdonalds things so true, the burgers always look awesome in pictures, but really they're thrown together, the burger and bun are different sizes and it's all limp!