2020-2021学年度第6期总第805期
Rejecting idea of ‘ideal’ image (P4)
山东省烟台第二中学 赵娜娜

Lead-in
Have you ever experienced the anxiety of negative body image? Have you ever been on a diet?

What drives many people to lose weight?
health concerns; peer pressure; struggling for the ideal image

How do you think the idea of ‘ideal’ image?

a waist of the same size as A4 paper

BM girls

BM girls
   “BM girls” refers to girls who wear small skirts, tiny T-shirts and skinny jeans. The group is named after the Italian fashion brand Brandy Melville. It says its clothes are “one size fits all”.
Title prediction
Rejecting idea of ‘ideal’ image

Read the title and predict what the passage is about.
•What is ‘ideal’ image?
•Why are many people rejecting the idea?
Fast-reading
Read the passage quickly and choose the main idea of the passage.

A. Why women are concerned about their images.
B. People are rejecting the idea of “BM girls”.
C. “BM girls” go viral these days.
Key: B
While-reading
Read the text carefully and answer the following questions.
1.Why are people rejecting the idea of “BM girls”?
2. What should companies in fashion do instead?
Reading for details

1.Why are people rejecting the idea of “BM girls”?

a. It brings humiliation to the girls who cannot wear BM clothing.

“For me, the problem was not the fact that I couldn’t purchase your merchandise. The root of my frustration is in the humiliation I felt when I realized that ... I just wasn’t good enough for the Melville brand,” young girl Andy Esmond wrote on the website Odyssey. “I got the message loud and clear: If you don’t have an ‘ideal’ body type, we would rather you not wear our clothing.”

b. The idealization of thinness can be a key factor in exacerbating the illness.

But fashion trends like the Brandy Melville clothing line do nothing to ease the anxiety of negative body image (形象). Instead, they feed it further. In order to achieve such an “ideal” image, some girls develop eating disorders. Even worse, this trend may lead to low self-esteem (自尊), depression (抑郁) and hopelessness.

The current situation

According to a 2018 survey conducted by Youth Select Committee in the UK, 8 in 10 teenage girls in the UK want to change their weight or body shape. In China, more than half of teenagers want to lose weight to make themselves look better, according to a 2018 survey by Southern Weekly.

2. What should companies in fashion do instead?
Fashion retailers should respect diversity in people’s natural body shapes and sizes.

A plus-size model on the runway

Beauty doesn’t come in a box, or in one form. Just recognize that we are all different and that is something to be celebrated. In fact, accepting your true self can display a natural beauty that cannot be ignored.

Post-reading
What do you think is the real beauty?
have high self-esteem; have a positive attitude toward life; have a kind heart

Kate Winslet, the heroine of Titanic, is always true to herself. She is always confident of herself, regardless of negative remarks on her size by others. She stands out based on her excellent talent instead of a thin image.
Language study
1.以……命名
be named after
2.购买
purchase
3.挫败感
frustration
4.宁愿某人做……
would rather sb do
5.对……不满意
be dissatisfied with
6.减肥
lose weight
7.减缓焦虑
ease the anxiety
8.不良身体意象
negative body image
9.饮食失调
develop eating disorders
10.沮丧
depression
11.绝望
hopelessness
12.展示自然美
display a natural beauty
Homework
你的同学小美觉得自己不够瘦，最近在节食减肥，请写一封信和她说明这样做的坏处，建议她做真实的自己。