G.I. Joe and Barbie are not only childhood toys, but reflections of media and society’s views about what the ideal person looks like, according to Wednesday’s National Eating Disorder Awareness Week event titled “Mirror, Mirror on the Wall.”
Haley Armstrong, a senior psychology major and speaker at the event, said in 1964, the average G.I. Joe’s toy arms were proportionate to 12.2 inches on a real person. In 1994, that measurement increased to 26.8 inches.
“It’s not just college students and those listening to media who are affected, but younger kids as well,” Armstrong said.
But how much does that really register in a child’s mind? According to the presentation, a lot.
“Eighty percent of fourth-grade girls are on diets and one-third of girls ages 12 to 13 are dieting,” said Jason Walls, a Ball State masters student.
The presentation also addressed the use of diet products and trends in advertising by manufacturers, who according to Walls, are just selling products.
“A lot of these [products] are not even FDA approved,” Walls said. “So you get all these messages saying you need it, and then they make $50 billion a year off of stuff that doesn’t work.”
That multibillion-dollar industry has gotten its business from a population that, according to Armstrong, has become obsessed with body image and adhering to standards set by mainstream media.
“It takes three minutes for someone to look in a magazine and start feeling self-conscious,” Armstrong said as she pointed at pictures of Channing Tatum and Hugh Jackman on a screen behind her.
Armstrong also said that a study in Fiji in 1994 showed the effects of television on the culture of the local population, which had never had a word for eating disorders and even looked down upon being thin.
“TV came and 15 percent of women developed an eating disorder,” Armstrong said. “It’s really important to be critical of images in media.”
Walls said recognizing that people come in all shapes and sizes and being reminded of that often is one important step to combatting the constant barrage of shallow messages.
Walls said the messages can also come from friends and surrounding people, not just media, which can be poisonous.
“Sometimes your friends suck and you need to tell them that they suck because it’s healthy for you,” Walls said.
