"Why does thin have to be in?"

“Why does thin have to be in?” written by Kaylin Taggart is a very potent article. The question “Why does thin have to be in?” pushes society’s limits and questions, what is known today as societal norms. This article reveals the truths about what people in society value, it recognizes potentially dangerous situations in which we are faced with every day. “High cheekbones, scarlet-blooded lips and corpse-like figures flood the high fashion runways.” This statement holds true when we put on a TV set, flip through a magazine, read billboards and serf the net. The media constantly bombards us with advertisements. In fact, a person sees more than 5,000 advertisements a day, most of which feature size 0 models that weigh 110 pounds and are 5’10”. Children, teenagers, and adults look up at these supernatural women in awe and do anything in their power to mimic their “seemingly” gorgeous figures. We are told that a size 0 is considered normal and everything else is unnatural. However, contrary to this belief most women are a size 14 and weighs 140 pounds. Everyone or mostly everyone would love to loose a few pounds here and there, trim a few edges, or cut-out the baby fat that never seems to go away.

Tierney Wallace is a freshman at Broome Community College who was featured in this article. Like many young women, Tierney struggled with an eating disorder and forced herself to live on a 400 calorie a day diet. As she started to loose weight people began to compliment her on how thin and healthy she looked. In fact, it was just the opposite. Without sufficient food in her body, Tierney’s body started eating her muscles and she lost a considerable amount of weight. Many people believe that in order to look and feel beautiful they must be stick-thin. Women of all ages want to be attractive. I mean who doesn’t like a compliment? But why are women constantly forced to watch what they eat, do excessive exercising and still at the end of the day take a look in the mirror and see nothing but fat? We need to smarten up and take a good look in the mirror, a good look and see what is right there in front of us. We are unique, we are strong, we are intelligent individuals. Take everything you see with a grain of salt.