It’s time I did a blog on body image. I wrote a piece about it in my very first blog entry which you can view here. It’s a nice piece. But maybe it’s too sugar coated and not direct enough. Maybe I needed to ask more questions?
Yeah, I know, sex sells and scantily clad images of women
are everywhere. Women have been used
this way for ages. It’s not that I was unaware of it or ignored
it, but I guess I thought that it being so obvious and ubiquitous these days it had almost
become boring or trite. I was
wrong. I talk to and meet more and more
women and girls succumbing to the pressure and influence of these distorted
images. Their self esteem, their
confidence is suffering and they aren’t quite feeling the beauty of who they
really are. My goodness, the fact that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton didn't wear make up to a press conference in Bangladesh last week got more press than what
she actually said there.
So, when is it going to stop? Each year in their schools our children are
taught what a healthy body image is. And
the same media that exploits these images reports on the importance of having a
healthy one. The conversation and
information are out there. Yet, we
aren’t there yet ourselves, are we?
Even if they are not spoken, the messages are clear that if
we just look a certain way, or attain a certain size or act a certain way then
- what? Then will we be lovable? Then will we be worthy? Then will we be happy?
Have the partner? The job? The life? But
chasing someone else’s unattainable ideal is a vicious circle that only sets us up for
disappointment. The media’s portrayal of
beauty and sex would have us believe our worth is dependent on the way we look…..It’s a lie. Let’s wake up
out of this voodoo trance and remember who we really are. It doesn’t feel good to feel shame about our
bodies and it doesn't do anybody any good.
I mean when you really think about it, the human body is inherently pretty beautiful…….The range of things we can do with our bodies is
infinite. The fact that we can taste a
summer peach, lay lazily in the warm sun, dance, run, and listen to amazing
music is all pretty beautiful ……Some may argue that this is not beauty……..but I
would argue that, perhaps, we need to broaden our view of what beauty is. Because you know what? It’s really much bigger and broader and deeper than what the media portrays. It is my belief that what so many of us see as our flaws are actually the very attributes that contribute to our beauty.
There is so much information out there on this subject. I haven’t done it justice, this I am
sure. This is more like the beginning of a
conversation. Please keep it going. Talk
about it with the women in your life. Talk
about it with the men in your life. But please, especially, talk with the teenagers that you know.
Let’s challenge what beauty is. Let's challenge the notion that how we look is somehow equal to our inherent worth. Let’s not let it be what society tells us, but what we feel is right for
us…….
