David Baxter PhD
Late Founder
Dear Domonique Ramirez (Former Miss San Antonio Who Was Fired)
by Susan Albers, Psy.D., Psychology Today
March 20, 2011
Dear Miss Domonique Ramirez,
I recently saw your story in the news (to sum it up briefly, Miss San Antonio was allegedly fired from her duties due to weight gain and was told to stop eating tacos). Your story was another reminder that we live in a world that still has an unhealthy emphasis on weight. The pressure to be extremely thin teaches women to dislike their bodies, engage in unhealthy, extreme (and sometimes dangerous) dieting and to fear being judge by their weight.
I'm an avid fan of Operation Beautiful, an organization that encourages people to support each other through positive, encouraging messages. You can do so by leaving an uplifting note in a public place such as on a restroom mirror or a car door. The notes below were inspired by you and all the other people who have felt discriminated against because of their shape or size. Please feel free to tweet it forward.
In a 2003 study published in the journal of Eating and Weight Disorders, researchers reported that over one-fourth (26%) of the women in a beauty pageant had been told or perceived they had an eating disorder which reportedly began at 16.25 years. Almost half (48.5%) reported wanting to be thinner and 57% were trying to lose weight.
In another study of pageant winners from 1923 to 2002, researchers at Rutgers University found that only 23% of pageant winners had a "normal" body mass index (BMI), 26% were so thin they met the World Health Organization's criteria for being undernourished and two would have been classified by the American Psychiatric Association as anorexic.
Hopefully, one day, studies on body image and beauty pageant contestants will just be ancient history.
Susan Albers, Psy.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist, specializing in eating issues, weight loss, body image concerns, and mindfulness. She is the author of 50 Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food, Eating Mindfully, Eat, Drink, and Be Mindful, and Mindful Eating 101. Visit Dr. Albers online at http://www.eatingmindfully.com.
by Susan Albers, Psy.D., Psychology Today
March 20, 2011
Dear Miss Domonique Ramirez,
I recently saw your story in the news (to sum it up briefly, Miss San Antonio was allegedly fired from her duties due to weight gain and was told to stop eating tacos). Your story was another reminder that we live in a world that still has an unhealthy emphasis on weight. The pressure to be extremely thin teaches women to dislike their bodies, engage in unhealthy, extreme (and sometimes dangerous) dieting and to fear being judge by their weight.
I'm an avid fan of Operation Beautiful, an organization that encourages people to support each other through positive, encouraging messages. You can do so by leaving an uplifting note in a public place such as on a restroom mirror or a car door. The notes below were inspired by you and all the other people who have felt discriminated against because of their shape or size. Please feel free to tweet it forward.
In a 2003 study published in the journal of Eating and Weight Disorders, researchers reported that over one-fourth (26%) of the women in a beauty pageant had been told or perceived they had an eating disorder which reportedly began at 16.25 years. Almost half (48.5%) reported wanting to be thinner and 57% were trying to lose weight.
In another study of pageant winners from 1923 to 2002, researchers at Rutgers University found that only 23% of pageant winners had a "normal" body mass index (BMI), 26% were so thin they met the World Health Organization's criteria for being undernourished and two would have been classified by the American Psychiatric Association as anorexic.
Hopefully, one day, studies on body image and beauty pageant contestants will just be ancient history.
Susan Albers, Psy.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist, specializing in eating issues, weight loss, body image concerns, and mindfulness. She is the author of 50 Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food, Eating Mindfully, Eat, Drink, and Be Mindful, and Mindful Eating 101. Visit Dr. Albers online at http://www.eatingmindfully.com.
