a body to die for

Maggie Helwig’s “A Certain Hunger” illustrates how people harbor negative perspective about the way their bodies look. They perceive that they should always be thinner than they should get in order to match the waif figure of stars. This unflattering body image is largely caused by the ideology working in the society which heaps praises on and venerates fashion models and slim celebrities. In effect, these people become insecure about their current body state and push themselves to the limit if only to achieve the society’s standard of the true, the good and the beautiful. In the process of accomplishing the wished-for thinness, these insecure persons punish themselves by dieting nonstop or toning down in health laboratories, even as they reach abnormal proportions, literally and figuratively. Only when these people start believing that it is all right to be themselves will they realize how helpless it is to flagellate themselves just to become slim. It is ultimately more rewarding to have self-acceptance since this secures people’s body image perception. Likewise, these people will be able to inspire others with image problems before their self-confidence and hope to be beautiful disappear.
Sicknesses like anorexia nervosa and bulimia are inexplicable and irrational states that plague the mind. People afflicted by these are so engrossed in achieving what they deem as the perfect figure. In the process of getting thinner and thinner, anorexic and bulimic persons grow oblivious that they already harm their bodies. To regular people who won’t have to deal with the mentioned sicknesses, the behavior of constantly shedding weight the painful way is considered illogical. However, the anorexic and the bulimic are forever mindful about having to be waif, escaping the realization of creating strict mental conditions. When they face the mirror, they see the extra fat that should be cut down instead of the stick figure that they really are. Their illusion of stoutness has so convinced them that they forget that they have reached the extreme. The anorexic and the bulimic are all unknowing that the perfect weight will never quite arrive.