I know, I know I don't post on Saturdays so...
1. Hi, hello there friend, how are you? I hope you're enjoying your weekend.
2. I found something that I think is important to talk about and there is just no other time quite as fitting to talk about it than right now.
Alright, here we go.
Our
media puts a lot of emphasis on “the perfect body” or how we need to look a
certain way. Teens especially feed into this and as a result go to extreme
measures to fit into to what society portrays as ideal.
Magazines, TV Shows, Tumblr... all these mediums tend to portray tall and slender girls who are super toned or scary skinny as attractive. Teenagers eat this up. Their mental and physical actions start to snowball. As a result, because these images are the only thing a majority of the population sees, women ( and men!) feel bad about themselves and actually turn to self harm.
Now by saying this, I'm not putting down the before mentioned body type or saying that the individual is not special, good looking or that there is something wrong with them for being that thin. Every body is different. Everybody and every body is beautiful! The time to appreciate ourselves exactly the way we are is long overdue.
Body image disorder, BID, is a real, serious issue that anyone can have. We've all learned that if you have nothing nice to say then don't say anything at all, yet when it comes to someone's size that rule gets thrown out the window. That just doesn't make sense to me.
Now that we are enveloped in the era of technology, harsh comments and bullying arise a lot more easily. Most of us hide behind our phones, computers, etc and think it's ok to call people out on their insecurities because it's not truly to their face. Well guess what everyone: it still hurts.
I spent quite a chunk of my time on the media and its hold on the body issues that occur in our society this past semester and I plan on continuing to do so in the future. Consequently, when a new, major story comes out about body issues or BID I jump at the chance to read it. I found it appropriate to write this post in light of Ke$ha's admittance to rehab. It was brought to the public's attention today that the pop songstress checked herself into rehab for an eating disorder. I applaud her for this, but how her eating disorder came to be? Not so much. A music producer, Dr. Luke, told Ke$ha that she "looks like a f*ing refrigerator".
After reading Luke's comment I was sick to my stomach.
No one deserves to read or hear such a statement or anything remotely relative to that about themselves - ever.
Our media, our schema on body beauty is absolutely sickening. Click here to read an article that talks more about Ke$ha's situation and many others like it. I strongly encourage you to check it out. I admire Cassey Ho for so many reasons, but her never ending passion about body image issues is undoubtedly something to be praised.
Next time you're browsing online or at the store remember that the images you see are not realistic. Magazines care about making sales, not how their covers make you feel about yourself. Photo manipulation is so overused- yet still so discreet that with a few moves of a mouse someone can look instantly prettier or slimmer. What you see is not real.
The #thighgap tags on Tumblr and Instagram represent just a small percentage of the world that is actually that slim and guess what. The girls flaunting those images? They probably have insecurities of their own and bragging about it is their odd way to cope. We thrive off of positivity : don't put down anyone because the body they were given is different than yours.
Life is hard enough as it is- love and help others see just how beautiful they genuinely are. Embrace what you have. Love what you have. You, my dear, are one of a kind.
Best,
Sarah
