Jennifer Lawrence has been called “big boned” while Mellissa McCarthy have been labelled “tractor-sized”. Apparently Jennifer Lopez “needs to lose some weight” while Kate Middleton is “too thin”. Yip, beautiful women have been given these awful labels.
Tanned, thin, wrinkle free, thin (did I mention thin?), is the ideal. You are judged if you do meet the criteria, and you are judged if you don’t. Whether we’re gossiping about a celebrity’s weight gain on the internet, or delighting in a former friend’s frumpy current look on Facebook, or frowning in the mirror at your derriere, body shamers are everywhere. Fat shaming, skinny shaming, lip shaming … you name it!
Listening to all of the little voices telling us the way we should look – including the voices inside our own heads – has warped our priorities. According to a 2009 Oxygen Media Survey of more than 2000 adults, nearly 25% of women ages 18 to 34 would rather win America’s Next Top Model, than the Nobel Peace Prize! Attractiveness is socially rewarded, from being picked for a team in gym class, to finding romantic partners, getting a job, or being promoted.
Although women may be more prone to body-image problems, men are by no means immune to this. There has been a silent and unsettling trend that’s created pressure for guys to buff up and morph into characters with roils of muscles. The most important thing is to start focusing on health and fitness, rather than aesthetics. It’s time to step away from the mirror and focus more on what your body can do. From there, the only “good body” image that matters, is yours.
While body shame isn’t helping us mentally, it turns out a poor body image could be harming us physically as well. According to new studies published in the Journal of Behavioural Medicine, people who feel ashamed about their bodies also have poorer overall health – regardless of their actual weight. Have you ever skipped the gym because you thought you were too fat to be there?
And know this: Body shaming won’t help you to lose weight either. A British study found that even though people say that humiliating themselves or others will spur weight loss; it actually has the opposite effect.
According to researchers, people who were ashamed of their weight gained more than those whose weight received no attention.
So, yeah, now we are going to get all motivational and affirmative! We need to shift the tide to health, wellness, compassion and gratitude versus criticism, social comparison, and extreme efforts to meet unattainable ideals. A positive body image involves understanding that healthy, attractive bodies come in all shapes and sizes, and that the number on the scale has nothing to do with how beautiful or valuable you are.
A positive body image has to be cultivated on purpose by introducing healthier ways to look at yourself and your body:
• Keep a top ten list of things you like about yourself – things that are not related to aesthetics, add to it regularly, and read it often.
• Beauty is a state of mind, not a state of your body. When you feel good about yourself and who you are, you carry yourself with a sense of confidence, self-acceptance, and openness that makes you beautiful, regardless of whether you look like a supermodel.
• Look at yourself as a whole person. Don’t focus on specific body parts. See yourself as you want others to see you.
• Be kind to yourself and to others.
• Balance your media diet. Become a critical viewer of social media messages. Beauty is infinite.
• Use the time and energy that you might have spent worrying about food or calories to do something to help others. Reaching out to others can help you to feel better about yourself while you’re changing the world.
What would happen if we showed ourselves as the strong beautiful women we really are? A vacation selfie of blogger Rachel Hollis went viral when she posted it with a body-embracing caption: “I have stretchmarks and I wear a bikini. I have a belly that’s permanently flabby from carrying three giant babies and I wear a bikini. Those marks prove that I was blessed enough to carry my babies and that flabby tummy means that I worked hard to lose the weight I could. Those marks aren’t scars, they’re stripes!” Bravo!
Source: www.womanshealthmag.com, www.brown.edu, www.sheknows.com, www.shape.com, nobodyshame.com, www.mtv.com, allwomanstalk.com, www.nationaleatingdisorders.org, experiencelife.com, www.webmd.com
DISCLAIMER: The information on this website is for educational purposes only, and is not intended as medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. If you are experiencing symptoms or need health advice, please consult a healthcare professional.
