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| These mannequins may be super-thin, but you're a lot more interesting. Plus, you have a head. |
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Transcript | Raw Footage Letter To The Media | Read All About It Order Videotape |
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| Self Image: The Fantasy, The Reality
In the Mix host Andrea sits down with former YM magazine
"We're starving ourselves to fit into their clothes," says Danielle, one of four young women
who share their experiences with life-threatening bulimia and anorexia. They offer other teens
advice on how to reach out for help or confront a friend in trouble.
"Self-Image: The Fantasy, The Reality" is regularly re-broadcast on PBS affiliates across the country. Please check our schedule and station list for airtimes.
Related In the Mix episodes: |
What is "the perfect body," and why does everyone want it? In the Mix digs deep into the
American obsession with body image, which is driving teens to diet, use steroids, develop
dangerous eating disorders and create a lifelong cycle of low self-esteem. 
editor Lesley Seymour, who explains
changing model trends and points out why 'thin is in' among fashion designers who only want
'hangers' for their clothes. She also urges teens to speak up to advertisers and get them to
reconsider the images they present. Katie Ford, head of Ford Models, emphasizes that a model
is thin because she was born that way – no amount of dieting or exercising will change a woman's
natural shape.
Viewers will also hear from young men who are so obsessed with matching the media's image of
"diesel" male bodies, they use steroids.
One former user recounts his journey into and out of steroid use, and how his mental and
physical health suffered. A doctor elaborates on other physical and mental dangers, then
offers guidelines for a drug-free yet effective exercise program. 
Finally, "Self-Image: The Fantasy, The Reality" gets eight friends to sit down, share some
pizza, and let the feelings fly.
Guys agree that they care more about a girl's personality than how much she weighs, while
girls vent their frustration with the media's effect on how they feel about themselves.