ance too tall, too fat, too something, in their failing to match ideal images.
The role that society plays in shaping these images is extremely important. However, that role can be very confused. First, consider mass-media depictions of the most successful women as the thinnest, which "foster and reinforce a social climate in which thinness is considered essential to beauty, especially for women" (Harrison, 1997, p. 481). Therefore, there is a social pressure on females to be physically beautiful.
According to the medical experts, physical activity plus a sensible diet is the best way of keeping thin and staying healthy in general, and it is best to start this kind of program in early childhood (Gutin & Others, 1990). But for females, physical activity does not necessarily have the same kind of social approval as dieting or thinness or beauty. Partly this can be traced to the mixed messages of the culture regarding physical activity for females. These mixed messages are not just a part of the modern culture. They are at
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