Enjoy! Oh, and constructive criticism is more than welcome!
Bibliography:
"American advertising in the media." Google Answers. 30 Dec. 2008
"Focus Adolescent Services: Eating Disorders." Focus Adolescent Services: Help Your Teen and Heal Your Family. 30 Dec. 2008
Isn't it sad that, when I was looking this information up, I came across about a dozen airbrushed photos in ads?
Everyday, the average American, whether consciously or not, is exposed to around 3,000 advertisements. Advertisements from magazines, the radio and TV, billboards, etc. make up this scary number. Looking at the visual ads, it doesn’t take a genius to realize that many of the pictures were put into a computer where it was airbrushed and retouched to look perfect. A beautiful female looks less than average compared to a once-average-looking female on the cover of a magazine. The once-average-looking female who is now a toothpick-who-manages-to-have-big-assets-and-a-gorgeous-face.
There isn’t just one perfect female, There’s thousands of Barbie dolls that make up their own world. The pictures surround all beings, engulfing them, leaving them with no escape from this eye-catching perfection. Everywhere they look, they are being degraded, causing them to wonder what is wrong with them.
Causing them to do whatever it takes to join the unreal world. Even if it means harming themselves.
Out of the 10 million American women who suffer from an eating disorder, Mary Smith is one of them. She too has seen the world more times to count. It only takes a couple of pictures to make someone feel humiliated; imagine what thousands of pictures could do to someone… to Mary.
The Smith’s parents weren’t oblivious. No, they just expected life-threatening situations to magically go away over night. They expected their teenage daughter to one day wake up, feel beautiful, and stop barfing.
How ever, The other teenage Smith, Willow, was oblivious. As a girl not self-confident herself, she seemed to be too absorbed in her own ‘ugly’ looks to realize that her sister might feel ugly, too. She envied Mary for her body and wished people would tell her she looked identical to her sister. It took her months to notice the sounds coming from the tiny bathroom. When she finally noticed some thing wasn’t right, she confronted her older sister.
“Why are you in the bathroom so much?” Willow asked one night at dinner. She also wasn’t the brightest one in the family, and was unable to form questions that didn’t sound stupid.
Their parents had left on a 2 week cruise- kind of like a honeymoon only 18 years later- leaving the girls home alone to take care of themselves.
Willow was in charge of cooking. That night, she had cooked fish for the two of them. Along with the mysterious sounds, she noticed Mary ate as much as she did, if not more, but Mary seemed to be losing weight rapidly.
Startled, Mary dropped her fork, her mouth agape. “I have bladder problems,” she said, not quite sure of herself.
“What’s with the sound? And the stench? I mean, EW!” Willow spat out questions. She looked at her boney sister and added, “Why am I fatter-much fatter- than you? It’s not like you’re on a diet!” She glanced at her sister’s overflowing plate.
The siblings stared each other down. Mary lost, looking to her plate. She picked it up and, in a sudden fit of rage, threw it on the ground. The fish went flying, along with small pieces of glass.
“What’s it to you?! Maybe I have a super high metabolism!” Mary screamed.
“I’m sure,” Willow muttered, sarcastically. But it didn’t matter; Mary had already gone to lock herself in the bathroom.
On top of Mary’s bulimia problem, she had relationship problems.
During the weeks the Smith’s parents were gone, Zack paid a visit. He looked too pleased for comfort, staring at his girlfriend’s fragile body as she hurried to get out the door. The couple had decided to do the dinner-and-movie thing.
After hours of watching old sci-fi movies, Willow heard voices coming from the porch. She muted the TV to eavesdrop on the conversation.
“What a great night,” a man commented. Willow decided the voice belonged to Zack.
“Yeah, it’s beautiful,” Mary replied.
“You’re almost as pretty as the stars! Just a little less weight and maybe some plastic-surgery....” Willow could tell Zack had smiled as he ruined the moment. He had probably thought he was giving his girl a compliment.
“I’m not good enough?” Willow imagined Mary looking down at the ground, her beautiful face warped into a frown.
“No,” the cruel man replied. “You love me right?”
“Yes, I do, but-” Mary started, but a sudden slap at her face silenced her.
“Then go in there and continue doing what you’ve been doing. Good night,” Zack said. Willow heard someone step off the stairs, followed by the sound of a car starting. She quickly unmuted the TV just as Mary entered the house.
The 17 year-old stopped, realizing that her sister had probably heard the argument. “Oh, I thought you were in bed,” Mary said. She sat down on the couch next to Willow. The TV was completely silenced, as Willow turned it off, but the room was not. Mary snapped, loudly sobbing as she cradled her face.
Willow moved closer to her sister and held her. She’d wait until morning to hear the whole story; they both needed some rest.
The sun, shining through every open space it could find between the closed shades, woke them up. They had fallen asleep on the couch, their bodies moved uncomfortably into each other’s arms. The girls unwound themselves and stretched, cracking their aching backs.
Mary began to cry silent tears as she recalled what had happened the night before.
“I became… bulimic… a couple of months before Zack stepped into the picture,” Mary whispered. A startled Willow turned her attention to Mary. The older sister continued, louder, “I just couldn’t stand looking at other girls and then looking at myself… and I still can’t! I’m so fat, my facial features are too big, and my skin is nasty!
“When I met Zack, all of that changed. He loved me, he was kind to me, he made me feel beautiful,” she sighed, fiddling with the heart necklace on her neck that was a present from him. “I couldn’t stop barfing, though; it had become a part of me… it had become a drug. Zack noticed me losing more and more weight, and at first I thought he was worried about me. Later, I realized he had gone crazy and abusive... for a reason I can’t put my finger on.
“This is the Zack I’ve known for a while… and still know today. I’m so weak… I can’t help myself.”
This seemed much like the nice-Mary the family had encountered months ago; talking to her sister about her feelings. When she became bulimic, the family met the yell-at-everyone-for-no-reason Mary.
Mary began to sob again, clenching onto her stomach. Willow wasn’t sure what to do. Should she call a doctor? The police? Her parents? Yes, but she couldn’t wrap her mind around what was going on to do so. She sat there, waiting for her sister to calm down.
“I’m going to die,” Mary said, through tears, after many minutes of letting out her pain.
Stupidly, Willow replied, “We’re all going to die some time.”
Not long after-maybe a couple of days later-he came for an unexpected visit. Willow answered the door to reveal Zack. He had brought roses, possibly to make up for the date that he had burned. She led him to the family room before he could even say ‘hi’.
Willow couldn’t help herself, she turned to Zack and said, “Jerk, you’re the reason my sisters in the bathroom barfing up the BLT I made her!”
Shaking in rage, Zack replied, “What?! That crazy b***h has always been like that!”
Just as he bawled up his fists to punch the girl, Mary walked in. She had small bits of vomit all around her mouth she had forgotten to clean up in a hurry to help her sister. Willow fainted at the sight.
A wide-eyes Mary grabbed the house phone and dialed 911.
There was a pause, as the person on the other end spoke, and then Mary quickly said, “My sister-“
Zack grabbed the phone, throwing it to the ground.
“I bring you roses and you call the police?!” He yelled as if Willow didn’t need a doctor’s help. He didn’t honestly want a response; he just wanted an excuse to beat Mary for the last time…
Willow woke up in a hospital bed. It took her a moment to remember what had happened. When it clicked, she turned to the nurse and asked, “Where is my sister?”
The nurse, busy looking at papers, jumped a bit before she turned to face the sickly pale girl. “Oh, you’re awake. Thank God. How are you, Hun?”
“Fine. Where is my sister?” she repeated.
The nurse frowned, not exactly sure how to tell the girl the tragic news. “The boy… Zack?”-Willow urgently nodded-“beat her… to death,” the woman said. She didn’t add the fact that nothing could’ve helped Mary- she would’ve died soon anyways- because she was so unhealthy. She then quickly said, “I’m so sorry, dear.”
Tears began to form in Willow’s eyes, making it hard for her to ask, “Is he in jail?”
The nurse nodded.
“Can I have some alone time?” Willow asked.
The nurse nodded again, exiting the room.
Why didn’t I realize some thing was wrong sooner? Why didn’t Mom or Dad stop it? What kind of person can kill a sweet girl like Mary? Why, why, why…
The Smith’s parents returned home the next day. They held Mary’s funeral that week. Many of Mary’s loved ones-her family and her many friends-showed up. It was an extremely upsetting event, but Willow was glad to know that Mary was at least going to be remembered and missed.
Willow had learned nothing. The whole experience had only left her with a dead sister. Even when she was dating a truly sweet boy, the unrealistically perfect world continued to fill her mind, becoming impossible to erase. Soon, the monster was after her, too….
Okay, this isn't the best thing in the world... but I still like it!
Please comment! heart
Oh, and it isn't as long as it looks.
Every day, girls of all different ages, sizes and colors are being forced to see a perfect world. A world where woman are unnaturally beautiful and have, let’s say, flawless bikini-bodies. Not only do females see this world, but males do, too.
Sometimes men think they can put their lovers into this world.
They start by being very verbal; “hey, fatty, do you really need more chocolate?” or maybe, “what are you wearing? Sweatpants? And, where’s your make-up?” Occasionally, they go to the next step by becoming abusive; throwing punches and kicking. There’s another stage where, like Willow’s sister’s boyfriend, they drive their girlfriend bulimic or anorexic.
The Smith’s parents weren’t oblivious. No, they just expected life-threatening situations to magically go away over night. This is why Mary got away with barfing up all of her meals.
Willow, on the other hand, was oblivious. It took her months to notice the sounds coming from the tiny bathroom. When she finally noticed some thing was not right, she confronted her older sister.
“Why are you in the bathroom so much?” Willow asked one night at dinner. Their parents had left on a 2 week cruise- kind of like a honeymoon… only 18 years later- leaving the girls home alone to take care of themselves.
Willow was in charge of cooking. That night, she had cooked fish for the 2 of them. She noticed her sister ate as much as she did, if not more, but Mary seemed to be losing weight rapidly.
Startled, Mary dropped her fork, her mouth agape. “I have bladder problems,” she said, not exactly sure of herself.
“What’s with the sound? And the stench? I mean, EW!” Willow spat out questions. She looked at her boney sister and added, “Why am I fatter-much fatter- than you? It’s not like you’re on a diet!” She glanced at her sister’s overflowing plate.
The siblings stared each other down. Mary lost, looking to her plate. She picked it up and, in a sudden fit of rage, threw it on the ground. The fish went flying, along with small pieces of glass.
“What’s it to you?! Maybe I have a super high metabolism!” Mary screamed.
“I’m sure,” Willow muttered, sarcastically. But it didn’t matter; Mary had already gone to lock herself in the bathroom.
A few days later, Mary’s boyfriend, Zack, came over. He looked too pleased for comfort, staring at his girlfriend’s fragile body. The day went well; the couple went out to do the dinner and movie thing. Willow stayed home watching old sci-fi movies.
Around 9:00 P.M, Willow heard angry voices coming from the porch. She muted the T.V to listen to the conversation.
“I can’t do this anymore! Willow knows,” a female voice said. Willow knew it was her sister.
“You love me, don’t you?” a man asked, quietly. Zack, Willow decided.
“Oh, yes, I do, but-” Mary started, but a sudden slap at her face silenced her.
“Then go in there and continue what you’re doing. Good night,” Zack said. Willow heard him step off the stairs and then she heard his car start. She quickly unmuted the TV just as Mary entered the house.
The 17 year-old stopped, realizing that her sister had probably heard the argument. “Oh, I thought you were in bed,” Mary said. She sat down on the couch next to Willow. The TV was completely silenced, as Willow turned it off, but the room was not. Mary snapped, loudly sobbing as she held her face.
Willow rubbed her sister’s back as Marry said, between sobs, “I’m bul…imic.”
“Shh… I know,” Willow said. She’d wait until morning to get the whole story. Right now, they both needed some sleep.
The sun, shining through every open space it could find between the closed shades, woke them up. They had fallen asleep on the couch, Willow holding her sister as she let out her pain.
“Should I make eggs?” the 14 year-old asked, letting her sister go.
“No,” Mary said. “You need to hear this.”
Willow nodded as if allowing Mary to talk.
“Zack was truly the kindest person in the world, to me, for the first year of our relationship. Of course you know that… you used to envy me because he’d shower me with love and gifts,” she began as she fiddled with the hear necklace on her neck; a present from Zack. “I really don’t know what happened. I guess I became too fat and ugly for him. Anyway, he began to hit me. Of course he told me he was sorry and that he loved me…”-she shook her head-“And then I thought of an idea to keep him… loser weight fast and all I had to do was barf after every meal!”
Willow knew the rest of the story. Her sister began to eat more, but she went to the bathroom after she ate some thing. Not only that, but she began to look exhausted- not even her large amount of make-up could cover it- and she went from always-smiling-Mary to yell-at-everyone-Mary. Only Zack benefited from this alarming change.
“I’m going to die,” Mary said after many minutes of thought.
Stupidly, Willow replied, “We all are going to die some time.”
“Not all of us are going to die from being too skinny,” the teen muttered.
Two days later-a week before their parents were supposed to come back-Zack came for an unexpected visit. Willow answered the door to reveal Zack, with roses in his hands. She led him to the family room before he could even say ‘hi’. The girls had just eaten, so Mary was in the bathroom.
Willow couldn’t help herself, she turned to Zack and said, “Jerk, you’re the reason my sisters in the bathroom barfing up the BLT I made her!”
Zack, shaking in rage, replied, “What?!”
Just as he bawled up his fists to punch the girl, Mary walked in. She had small bits of vomit all around her mouth she had forgotten to clean up in a hurry to help her sister. Willow fainted at the sight.
A wide-eyes Mary pulled out her cell phone and dialed 911.
There was a pause, as the person on the other end spoke, and then Mary quickly said, “My sister-“
Zack grabbed the phone, throwing it to the ground.
“I bring you roses and you call the police?!” He yelled as if Willow didn’t need a doctor’s help. He didn’t honestly want a response; he just wanted an excuse to beat Mary for the last time…
Willow woke up in a hospital bed. It took her a moment to remember what had happened. When it clicked, she turned to the nurse and asked, “Where is my sister?”
The nurse, busy looking at papers, jumped a bit before she turned to face the sickly white girl. “Oh, you’re awake. Thank God. How are you, hun?”
“Fine. Where is my sister?” she repeated.
The nurse frowned, not exactly sure how to tell the girl the tragic news. “The boy… Zack?”-Willow urgently nodded-“beat her… to death,” the woman said. She didn’t add the fact that nothing could’ve helped Mary- she would’ve died soon anyways- because she was so unhealthy. She then quickly added, “I’m so sorry, dear.” Tears began to form in Willow’s eyes, making it hard for her to ask, “Is he in jail?”
The nurse nodded.
“Can I have some alone time?” Willow asked.
The nurse nodded again, exiting the room.
Why didn’t I realize some thing was wrong sooner? Why didn’t Mom or Dad stop it? What kind of person can kill a sweet girl like Mary? Why, why, why…
The Smith’s parents returned home the next day. They held Mary’s funeral that week. Many of Mary’s loved ones-her family and her many friends-showed up. It was an extremely upsetting event, but Willow was glad to know that Mary was at least going to be remembered and missed.
It didn’t take long to decide that Zack was a murderer. He was ‘awarded’ a well deserved life time in jail. Nothing could convince the judge to shorten the sentence or let him get bailed from prison.
Willow had learned nothing. The whole experience had only left her with a dead sister. When she turned 16, she began to date the kindest boy in the world-to her-named Max. Soon, the monster was after her, just as it had been after Mary…
