Beautiful Flaws

“The hatred of your own female body has become normalised to the point that listing things you hate about yourself is a perfectly normal conversation. Telling the lady at the store that you can’t wear that dress because you hate your upper-arms or discussing weight-loss with a complete stranger are everyday happenings. In fact, it’s even a way for young girls and women to bond. You see, in girl world, hating yourself can be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”- Anonymous Source.

Over time, beauty standards for young girls has changed, it was not until the late twentieth century that thinness was beautiful and desirable. Even from only sixty years ago, the standards have changed and evolved. A good example would be Marilyn Monroe, in her time many girls and women aspired to be like her, she was the face of beauty. Marilyn Monroe was in fact a size 12, nowadays in society if you were a size 12…you may as well be dead. You would immediately feel pressure to lose weight. Why? Because now the face of beauty is a slim supermodel who weighs 90 pounds and is a size double zero. One figure which is there in any and every form of media is the woman. Not just any woman, but a woman who has a “perfect” body. She has a tiny waist, slim legs, flawless skin, perfectly sized and placed eyes, lips and nose, and dressed in the latest fashion or next to nothing at all. Is this woman real, does anybody know this woman in real life? The answer is no, she is a photoshopped person. The media portrays what a "normal" body should look like, when in reality it’s not real.

Mass media is designed to reach large audiences through technology. Its purpose is meant to give information we need to function as a society. Mass media is everywhere, there is no escaping from it. From the moment you wake up until you fall asleep you are bombarded with media especially now everyone is on-line, all the time. Almost every home in Singapore has at least one television, access to the internet, and cell phones. “When I was younger I’m sure the impact of the media on my body image was greater, you would see an ad in a magazine or on the television, but then you would turn off the program or flip to the next page, it sure wasn’t as in my face as it is now. Now, I ignore it…but these days you can’t escape it as easily as I could”
-Patricia Driver.

The media has a wide impact on people, particularly in female teens and children. A 2012 a study showed that even girls at the age of five aren’t happy with their body and begin dieting at the age of only eight years old! “Girls who are a size nine aren’t ugly. Just because you aren’t as tall or as skinny as the model on that magazine, does’t make you ugly…teaching young girls- children in fact, that they are only beautiful if they look a certain way. That is ugly.”-Rachel Driver

The average woman sees 400 to 500 advertisements per day, and by the time she is 17-years old, she has received over 250,000 commercial messages through the media. This constant exposure to female orients advertisements may influence girls to become self-conscious about their bodies and to obsess over their physical appearance as a measure of their worth.-Mass Media Effects On A Girls Body Image (Author, Unknown)

A study in America in 2012 states that eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness for women, and that in 2012 ten million women in america have eating disorders, and 20% of people suffering from anorexia will prematurely die from complications related to their eating disorder, including suicide and heart problems. “Mass media definitely provides really unrealistic expectations for young people and how their bodies look, so it make them feel like they won't be able to achieve anything or ever be good enough unless they look that way, thats why people can have eating disorders and go into depression.” - Akanksha Shukla

Another study in Australian high school girls, 76% of the girls wished they were thinner, 50% have tried to lose weight, and only 16% were happy with their body weight. In extreme cases, girls begin to shows signs of wanting to lose weight around the age of five, but statistics show that “95% of those who have eating disorders are between the ages of 12 and 25. Why? Because they don’t fit the description of a “Real woman” or having the “perfect figure” they are not flawless and shouldn’t be taught to think that being flawless is normal. They want to change, they want to be that girl, that girl who everyone thinks is beautiful. We all want to be beautiful, but in this society…no-one ever is.

How can you be positive? In a world so hateful and flawed. Your first step is to appreciate all that you and your body can do. Every day your body carries you closer to your dreams. Celebrate all of the amazing things your body does for you- running, dancing, breathing, laughing, dreaming, etc. You should keep a list of things you like about yourself, things that aren’t related to how much you weigh or what you look like. Read your list often. You can add to it, the more you become aware of more things to like about yourself. You have to remind yourself that true beauty is not simply skin deep. When you feel good about yourself and who you are as a person, you carry yourself with confidence, self-acceptance, and openness that makes you beautiful, regardless of whether you look like a supermodel. Look at yourself as a whole person. When you see yourself in a mirror don’t focus on specific body parts. See yourself as you want others to see you–as a whole person. Because you’re never going to be accepted by others, if you don’t accept yourself first.

Obese vs The World

25 stone British mother of two Christina Briggs has described her alarming story to reporters yesterday. Briggs accused her obese situation as the result of her lack of wealth, claiming that she is fat because she ‘cannot afford organic food and gym membership’. Instead, the unemployed Brit, living on benefits, suggested that the government should fund her quest to lose weight as she cannot afford to eat her favorite takeouts while paying for health classes and activities.

Rather than a cause for concern, this horrific new statement is being met by the public with an unexpected sense of compassion. A recent survey conducted by a reporter measures the upcoming generation, middle school student’s opinions of the upcoming widespread issue that is obesity. Astonishingly, rather than anger, the results of the survey revealed that many students feel remorseful towards the situation, with no less than 100% of participants stating that they felt that society judges the obese and makes them feel unwelcome.

After much research, the unfortunate fact was that one cannot change the economic growth of fast food chains around the world, but what they can dig deeper into is the word society thrown into the statement of obesity. Is society judging Briggs what fuels her ignorance, or is it what she believes of herself and what she deserves? Maybe our next candidate will change your opinion:

Our reporters embarked on another survey, based on the mixed public reactions to British burlesque dancer Charlene Taylor. The ‘claimed to be’ size 16 dancer told reporters of her campaign to inspire fellow obese women to take on her seductive occupation, with the belief that you don't need to be skinny to be attractive. Some felt enthralled by her bewitchment of the ritual that is skinny people playing seductive roles like burlesque dancers, while others were disgusted by Taylor‘s more anti seductive approach, with 60% stating that being unhealthy is not at all attractive.

Which is more attractive, skinny or obese people? It is now becoming a stereotype to see people accusing companies of using stick thin models, and encouraging the ‘coat hanger’ body shape. But being obese is just as unhealthy as eating a peanut everyday. Is shovelling twinkies into your mouth everyday really what society wants attractive to be? The reason why it is so difficult to pick one is simply because the answer is neither. In the 1950s, when the idea of pop culture and seductive women began to intertwine, the idea of a perfect woman was not someone who felt comfortable in their own skin, it was someone who was healthy, curvy and attractive. As a private psychologist quoted to our reporters, ‘people often mix up the definition of seductive and beautiful. The definition of sexy is a stereotype that will always be there, but the definition of beautiful is spontaneous beyond belief. Being beautiful is being charismatic and genuinely comfortable with how you look, regardless of your weight. That is what being comfortable in your skin really means. But being healthy comes first.’

For all the obese people out there, this article is not going to bring you down. It is meant to inspire you to make that difference. In 2050, 50% of Americans will be obese. Every person counts to that statistic. If society starts to accept obese people thinking they are fine the way they are, nothing will change. What happens when it’s 75%? 80%? Do we really want to be that world that gave into the second chicken nugget? We cannot all be rich and sexy, but we can all be beautiful, and that should be something the obese, including Taylor and Briggs strive towards to make this world a better, healthier place. If they really want to be those things, they will be accepted no matter what if they chucked out their twinkies and hit the treadmill, as will the other 2.1 billion people, nearly 30% of the world, will want to strive towards. You can be beautiful and not be skinny, but you can be healthier and happier. Research indicates that 20% more people are happier being healthy than wealthy. So make those changes today, do what you want to do, be who you want to be, but remember, the only goal that society will ever have, whether it’s 2014 or 2050, everyone has the right to be beautiful and happy, and that’s what it takes for society and the obese to truly comprise.

Teenage Girls: Negative Body Image

The troubled girl doesn’t eat her dinner as she thinks it will make her fat. Her parents are forcing her to eat her dinner and she does but then excuses herself to go to the bathroom and she throws up. She doesn’t want to regain the weight that she lost because she has just been told a numerous times that she will never look good and never be in good to be in the so called “popular group”. But really, she looks like your average teenage girl experiencing changes with her body.

She’s insecure and she has body image issues.

You might wonder if others have had this experience, a survey result shows that 8 out of 10 of teenage girls do not feel satisfied with their body for numerous reasons, they might think that they’re fat, or think that they’re ugly. Almost all of the girls that weren’t satisfied with their body admitted that they want to lose weight.

A student from UWCSEA was interviewed about the issue and said that she deals with body image issues and she was teased a lot for being fat. She started losing weight during the summer and lost about 2 kg in 2 months. She is paranoid over what she eats and is scared of regaining the weight that she has lost. Even when she feels very hungry, she will just starve herself. She is scared that she’s going to develop a serious eating disorder but she says that she can’t help herself and she has to think about her weight.

You may be surprised to find that teen girls who have an extreme weight-loss behaviors (vomiting and using laxatives or diet pills) are less likely to eat fruits and vegetables and other healthy compared to non-dieters and dieters who are more likely to eat healthy food. This can be explained because dieters don’t eat at every meal so they might think that junk food will keep them full.

Teenage girls usually struggle with their self-esteem and body image when they begin puberty because it's a time when their body goes through many changes. These changes, combined with wanting to feel accepted by our friends, means that it is not easy to not want to compare ourselves to others. The problem with that is that not everyone grows and changes the same way or at the same time.

Dr Katrina, a specialist on eating disorders and body image issues says “More and more teens are dealing with low self-esteem and therefore also dealing with body image. I have dealt with this issue when i was younger and and it took me a while to get over it and feel good about my body. With help and support, hopefully every teen can go throughout the phase without doing any harm to their body.”

The media is full of girls that are skinny and good looking and 80% of teens say that the images of women on television, movies and fashion magazines make them feel insecure because they think that they are not good enough compared to celebrities. Even before girls are teenagers, some are already worrying about their figure. 81% of 10 year olds are afraid of becoming fat as they get older. This might be due to what they see or hear on TV, or maybe because they might have an older sister that might have influenced them into thinking like that.

How can you help someone with this issue and hopefully talk them out of it?

As you can probably already tell, there are a lot of teens who are dealing with this and might feel lost about it. If your child or someone you know and care about is experiencing this issue and is feeling insecure, there are many things you can do to help. There are plenty of great books and articles that could help you and give you advice. You could boost their self esteem by complimenting them and telling them that this isn’t the way to go. Know that you are not alone and someone is obviously experiencing the same thing.