THE RECENT CONTROVERSY OVER DEMI Moore's photograph on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine has renewed debate over which images of women are acceptable in public places. It also raises deeper questions, such as what images of women and men do we hold in high esteem, do we aspire to? Are these images a model or a trap? "A perfect woman is tall, blond, and size ten," says Marion Crook. "She makes money. She has two children and a husband. She is educated, accomplished, efficient and organized." Yet only eight per cent of women are size ten. The number who are size ten and fit the rest of the definition of 'perfect' is very tiny. "What about the rest of us?" Crook asks in The Body Image Trap (SelfCounsel $9.95), to be published this November. "Are we, therefore, not women who are good enough? Are we failures?" As ridiculous as that notion is, women desperately try to conform to the images of Bo Derek and Julia Roberts, "pursuing ideals that are born in media advertising."'' Crook has gathered opinions from hundreds of women for her book. She says women generally dislike their bodies, especially their size. Yet most do not even have an accurate idea of how big they are. "Ninety per cent of women over-estimate their size by 25 percent," she says, 'Crook's book encourages women to accept their body image, whatever their size. The main benefit, she says, is that once women drop the quest for the unattainable size 10, they can accept themselves and "go after what we want in life." 0-88908-975-2

[BCBW 1991] "Health"