Analyzing Frankenstein's 'Fear Of Fatness'

In “Fear of Fatness” by Peggy Orenstein, she claims that the beauty standards set by society are degrading women’s appearances causing them to constantly stress over how they are perceived. She explains this through the use of satire and the personal experience of a friend, Holly, whose five-year-old daughter, Ava, is overweight. Holly is so concerned about Ava’s weight that she contacts her daughter’s pediatrician to help control Ava’s portion sizes. Orenstein goes on to describe that “the standards of female beauty are so punishing that even should a girl miraculously fit them, she may still believe she falls short” (Orenstein 66). She explains that women are stressing over their appearances at an early age by stating that almost half of third grade girls wish they were thinner and 81% of 10-year-old girls are afraid of getting fat. She claims
Of course she does put a few in the middle when she is talking about the third grade girls, but she does not use anymore to back up any of her claims. The little statistics she does use emphasizes just how prominent the idea of a perfect body is in these girls’ minds. The reason for adding more facts is because sometimes having just observation is not enough. One needs to use facts in order to back up their claim statistically to further prove their point. Even though her paper is titled “Fear of Fatness,” she does not really talk about the concept of being fat. She does talk about it at the beginning of her paper, but she does not go into being fat as much as body image as a whole. She does talk about girls being scared of getting fat, but she does not talk about how unhealthy being fat is. A reason for this may be because heath is not the main focus of her article. She really wants to hammer in the idea of body image and beauty