As a writer, lover of
fashion, and sometimes media, I feel like this needed to be said. I haven’t
seen it said yet, so I thought I would take it upon myself to be the first.
Lately; I’m thinking
the pressure society places on us, will eventually kill us all given enough
time.
I’m
not talking literally, I’m fully aware and accepting of the fact that we will
all eventually die when it is our time.
I
mean I feel like our society has become one giant middle school, and no one can
seem to graduate. Remember in middle school when you would be ostracized by
your “friends” if you weren’t wearing Hollister jeans? Yeah, me too. And, that
really sucked because, I have a big butt, and a size seven butt doesn’t fit
into Hollister jeans. Plus, my size seven but didn’t want to be suffocated in
Hollister jeans, anyway.
More
and more, we’re morphing into one exercise crazed, collar-bone obsessed, and
vegan loving generation. Have any of us ever stopped to think do we actually
like these things, or do we like it because, that’s all that we see in
magazines?
Just
yesterday, I was scrolling through Instagram, and I saw a picture of a model,
who was very skinny but, healthy. You know how some people naturally have small
frames? On this picture were a wide range of comments from, “Oh My God, ew. She
needs to put some meat on those bones!” “Eat A Cheeseburger!” “Perfect body.”
One
comment really disturbed me and stuck with me.
“She
has the perfect body. Like oh my god. I should just stop eating now, so I can
look like this.”
No.
No. No. No.
I
clicked on the girl’s picture, and she looked just like me. A beautiful healthy
weight. Which I take pride in being. I don’t need you to see my bones, unless
you’re my doctor, and you’re looking at them on an x-ray.
In
this situation, I’m not sure who is at fault. Perhaps, one person is not
entirely at fault, but, it’s a package deal.
The
media & businesses- I think it’s time that stores start using real women in
their ads. Why is the media brainwashing girls to believe that the ideal body
is one that is detrimental to our health? We were not made to have gaps between
our thighs, or collarbones so distinct they could carve a turkey. We idealize
this “dream” body that we all exhaust ourselves trying to achieve. How about
instead of putting all our time into changing our bodies, we focus on loving
the bodies we were given? Embrace your flaws. Everyone has them. If we were all
made the same, this world would be a boring place, and fashion would not exist
at all.
Businesses
that say that their clothes are exclusive for certain types of women, and
banned for others should not be publicized at all. If you’re branding revolves
around making people feel bad about themselves, you need a new marketing
strategy. It’s not working for you.
Parents:
Encourage your kids! Growing up, my mom wanted to make sure my sister and I never
had any issues with self-esteem. We both went through phases where we felt like
we had to shop where all the “cool” kids where shopping, and look like the
images on the TV. She ensured us that it was ok to shop wherever we wanted. And
the bodies we were given are perfect the way they are, flaws and all.
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