Redefining American Beauty

Yesterday,  a new unaltered photograph (on the right) of Cindy Crawford circulated all across the internet. Crawford, 48, has been a supermodel all her life. However, after aging and having children, her body looks more like the average woman. Crawford once said, "When I was 23 other women could look at me and say, 'Well, she's never had kids,' but now I have and I know what it's like to have to lose baby weight." After giving birth, she hasn't been able to completely lose her extra belly weight. In this photograph, she decided not to hide that fact. Through this picture, Crawford is inspiring others to appreciate their bodies.

When I first viewed this image, I was delighted to see a woman embracing her natural beauty without Photoshop touch-ups. We have too many photographs in magazines, on billboards, on the internet, and on TV that depict extremely skinny models who have been Photoshopped to look even "better". Yet, those images aren't real. The expectations for beauty aren't real. These unrealistic expectations help explain why approximately 91% of women are unhappy with their bodies.  That fact hits close to home since my cousin struggled with Anorexia Nervosa for a few years. The media's focus on extremely skinny women only contributed to her anxiety. Whenever she started to eat more normally, reminders of thinness haunted her as she turned on the TV or logged onto the computer. For people with eating disorders, this technological age tends to only perpetuate their bad eating habits. Until more photographs like Crawford's begin to appear throughout our society, I'm afraid that women all across America will continue to be unsatisfied with their body images. People need to learn to embrace others' "imperfections" in order to redefine American beauty. This Cindy Crawford image is a step in the right direction.