MODEL ANSWER | BAND 8.0

Most women we see on television or in advertisements are portrayed as young and slim irrespective of their age or the nature of their work. This creates a mindset among the people that this is how an ideal woman should be like. In my opinion, this is not fair. The media should act more responsibly and portray women for their accomplishments rather than their body type.

Although it is essential for women working as models and actresses to maintain a slim body structure, sometimes they tend to become competitive and career driven and end up developing health disorders like anorexia.  It has also become common for teenagers aspiring to become an actress or a model to develop eating disorders in order to remain slim. Also, such careers have a short shelf life and mostly, after crossing the age of 30, opportunities of finding a job become very rare. This causes the women to go into depression and ultimately some of them commit suicide.

One way to overcome this problem is to encourage the media to show realistic programs. For example movies should show moms as strong, independent and career oriented rather than slim and petite. In my opinion, we also require more television series focusing on powerful women who brought about a change in the society such as Indira Gandhi or Rani Laxmibai. This will help to eliminate the existing stereotypes of women.

To conclude, media must create awareness among the public that it is not necessary for a woman to be young and thin in order to be perfect. What matters more is that the women should be educated and independent. This approach will also empower more women and bring about a change in the society.