At a very early age, female children become aware of the importance of physical appearance and its importance in their roles.

In most cultures beauty and being female are synonymous.

Studies state that humans recognized themselves in the mirror as early as two years of age and it is not long after that they we learn to dislike what we see.

Although men suffer with issues of body image as well, it is females who are proportionately more concerned and affected by their appearance.

In a survey on 10 year-old, American females, 81% reported that they had dieted at least once in their lives.

Puberty in females only seems to make body image worse, with the negative body images lasting for most throughout their lives.

“My body image has affected my self-confidence as both a female and an athlete. I have found that I have had to reconstruct my ideology around what is beautiful in order for me to accept my body,” said junior, June Moore.

Past studies has shown that white females suffer at a greater level than black females in regards to weight issues in particular.

Black females tend to have fewer issues with body image and an overall higher sense of self-esteem than their white counterparts.

“Who African Americans value comes into play and influences why we value ourselves. Even songs praising fuller body types can play a large part in the racial image differences,” said Dr. Cameron-Wedding, Women’s Studies instructor.

These findings are showing some sign of change though.Advertising, weight loss and medical industries are having an affect on women cross culturally.

There have been slight shifts in the racial make up of those who are experiencing eating disorders.

A feminist website, www.feminist.com states that the popular notion that some communities are less influenced than others has meant that women of color in particular have a hard time being taken seriously when they do have eating disorders.

So, although the numbers are significantly different racially, body image is something that women as a whole struggle with.

Advertising and the media usually receive the blame for the skewed images of women.

Although supermodels do not represent the true weight or even look like the average woman, they often set the standard that many women are literally dying to reach.

“I believe that the media instills women that they need to be perfect. Advertisements on television always tell us how we can get ‘better hair, body, nails, which implies that we are not good enough the way we currently are,” said Moore.

Studies have also suggested that there are also strong ties with the way a mother views herself and how a daughter does.

If a daughter grows up hearing her mother complain about weight, or watching her mother constantly diet, she will many times develop her sense of self in a similar way, based on appearance.Although weight is a large part of female self-image, aging is a close second.

Aging for women is much more detrimental for women than men.

The fear of aging is so great that the market for anti-aging products is flooded.Ironically, most of these products are geared toward women, even though we all know that aging itself does not discriminate.It is unfortunate that women are being forced to define themselves based solely on outer beauty.

Not only does this way of thinking minimize the many other attributes women have but it also devalues women and their sense of self.

Until women take control of their own self-worth, these negative, unrealistic, self-destructive images will continue to be passed on generationally.