A word on Body Image.
By Ruby Clayton Dowling.
We often receive mixed messages from the media, one of these messages being the confusing topic of body positivity. Firstly we have people telling us that we should love our bodies no matter what and then we are told to shame our own bodies in order to not appear self-centred. We are also constantly being undermined with unrealistic beauty standards that we are told we must uphold. Because of the recent incline of popularity for the body positivity movement, many brands have been using body positivity as a way of marketing their products. In truth, everyone feels bad about their body once in a while, and that is okay. However it’s important to learn to love yourself and your body because in the end, it’s what’s inside that counts. It’s hard to feel great about yourself when the media, which surrounds us all the time, is filled with only people of one body type, excluding a huge range of different people. We barely ever see people of colour or with disabilities in ads, TV and movies. By not seeing a range of different types of bodies in the media, they’re excluding a whole range of people who’s bodies are just as beautiful as everyone else’s.
It’s also hard to learn to accept and appreciate your body when people assume that people who are considered fat in our society must be unhealthy, which is completely ridiculous seeing as everyone has a different ‘healthy weight’. Not only that, but people might have disorders that make their body look a certain way and they can’t do anything about it, so assuming someone’s physical state by the way they look is a dangerous way of going about life. Skinny definitely doesn’t mean healthy - in fact it's just as likely to mean unhealthy.
Another aspect of the body positivity movement that is rarely looked at are transgender, gender queer or genderfluid people and their lack of representation in media. We rarely see ads, TV or movies with accurate representations and information on transpeople, which leads people to make assumptions about their bodies, which can be harmful in the long run.
In short, just remember:
- Whatever you want with your body is okay. As long as it makes you feel good, no one has the right to tell you that it’s wrong.
- It’s ok to feel bad about your body. We all have bad days. Just remember not to blame yourself, and don’t punish yourself for something that is out of your control.
- Don’t let anyone tell you your body is bad and don’t make assumptions about people’s bodies. Instead, focus on learning to love yours, because it’s beautiful!