The summer season has finally approached! Dogs are running with the wind, children are climbing up monkey bars, and people are preparing for endless amounts of days chilling by the pool… Chilling by the pool… which means wearing a swim suit… which means everyone sees your “not so summer bod.” I am very insecure about this topic and so are many men and women around the globe… Body image.
It is a phrase that gets tossed around every single day… You don’t even need to hear the phrase to be exposed to it. Body image is what we see every day, whether that is the media or the people that surround us. We see beautiful female models plastered all over these fashion magazines who are wearing size 0 jeans, we see built men squatting three times their actual weight, and we see people who supposedly have the “ideal body image.” I think it is finally safe to say that enough is enough. I am sick of seeing people throwing around the phrase “the perfect body image.” What even is the perfect body image? Growing up, I would’ve said Barbie had the “perfect body image.” Barbie was a doll that pretty much every girl played with whenever I was a young girl. She was beautiful and trendy whenever it came to her own image… But studies have shown that if her measurements were a real human being, she would be dangerously anorexic. According to CBS, Barbie would be 5’9″ tall, an 18″ waist, 33″ hips, a size 3 in shoe, and weight of 110 pounds… The average measurement of a real female’s body would be 5’4″ tall, waist of 34-35 inches, and weight between 140-150 pounds… Do we see the problem here? Young women are always exposed to a “perfect body image” yet the the perfect body image is actually anorexia…
To me, it seems that society judges everyone to have the perfect body image. In order for someone to have the perfect body image, he/she must weigh this much, look like this, have muscles this big, and so on and so forth… Does anyone realize how ridiculous that sounds? I almost think of this situation being similar to selecting a dog. Typically American families own pets and the most common pet of all is a dog. Let’s say whenever it came to adopting a dog, your family considers these traits: weight and appearance. Sounds crazy right? “We are looking to adopt a dog that weighs x amount of pounds, looks like x, and is liked by families.”
I think the best way to handle the topic of body image is to not judge an individual’s body. I believe that God created us the way we were suppose to be created. Our body’s define us on who we are. He did not create us to look like everyone else; he created us to look different among others… If a friend of yours is complaining about the way he/she looks and is not happy about it, be their words of encouragement. If he/she wants to loose weight, then you should absolutely support their decision. If he/she is not considering loosing weight, then you should absolutely support them by saying “you don’t need to.” Any woman can be beautiful regardless of her jean size. Any man can be handsome regardless of how much muscle mass he has. It really hurts me to see people compare their bodies and appearance towards others… As long as you feel confident in yourself, then it will show. You will then glow towards others and that is something everyone needs every once in a while: confidence. I really wish we lived in a world where people can’t be judged by the way they looked or how much they weighed… I think by watching this video, it could help change everyone’s perception on how they feel about themselves.
