I think confidence is not purely dependent on physical appearance. We may be confident in our own individual talents - a math teacher may be very confident in their math skills and teaching skills. Physical appearance must only affect confidence in social relationships. Some people are naturally thin (and I know a few that are genuinely self conscious about how thin they are). In all other cases, I believe that the desire and requisite steps taken to achieve a small physique are catalyzed by insecurities of physical appearance. Our culture has fathered the notion that thin is beautiful - and the demands to be ever thinner are rapidly increasing. Only 15 years ago the average model's pant size was a six. Today, it is a 0. Not only do models starve themselves, but also adopt other unhealthy habits such as smoking and even as drastic as snorting cocaine as a means to keep trim. Women who are insecure in their appearance are under the impression that if they drop 20lbs they'll be magically beautiful. It's a tragic ideology that has been imposed upon our culture.
Question: Why is thin beautiful?
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While I am not sure yet how to answer your question, I would like to point out that, while some models certainly go to extreme measures to look thin, those are sometimes not enough for the media. It has become disturbingly common for companies to doctor photos of women to make them even more thin than they are, thus perpetuating to a greater extreme a completely unrealistic idea of beauty. Isn't technology grand?
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