Taking the Drama Out of Body Drama
A group of young girls discuss how society affects body image.
Jan. 10, 2008 — -- Whether they look on the newsstand, television, runway or billboard, teenage girls have plenty of opportunities to catch a glimpse of beauty and "perfection" — and often to lament how unattainable it seems.
"You look at the magazine cover and you just think 'That's perfection, and I'm never gonna look like that,'" Tory O'Brien, 17, said. "I can never be perfect."
"We don't look like that," Elizabeth Perez, 18, agreed. "We're never going to have that skin. Our breasts aren't always going to be the same size or the same cup."
Former Miss America contestant Nancy Amanda Redd decided enough was enough and it was time to give girls a rare glimpse of what real, un-airbrushed women struggle with.
Provocative photos and candid text about everything from pimples to periods can be found inside the pages of Redd's new book, "Body Drama." The idea is to show teenage girls that not being perfect is not only perfectly normal, but perfectly beautiful.
"I wanted to provide a resource for young women to have un-airbrushed, real bodies of cellulite and scars and tummy rolls," Redd said. "I talk about underwear skid marks. I talk about period clots. I talk about period stains. I talk about the dregs of body drama we deal with."
"Good Morning America" invited a panel of six teenage girls, including O'Brien and Perez, to discuss the book and what it's like to be a young woman in a seemingly size 2 society.
Each girl was quick to name the part of her body she'd like to change. Their desired body alterations ranged from a smaller butt to a bigger chest to clearer skin.
The girls said they liked the book, particularly its graphic detail. Virtually no topic is off limits as it delves into intimate issues that have typically been sources of shame for young women — unseemly digestive problems, body odor, infected tattoos and regions "down there."
And forget demure diagrams. "Body Drama" features real girls with real bodies who could clearly relate to the panelists' anxiety about being judged by their peers.
