Diet culture. Ugh – I wish this didn’t exist. I wish I didn’t know what a diet, detox or cleanse even is. Diet culture is mainly a female problem. It is very, very hard to find a uni girl who has never been on a restrictive diet before. I myself have been on loads. Low-carb, high-carb, Atkins, low-fat, low-sugar… The list goes on. I am now 21 years old and it took me years to get rid of the cultural expectations of female bodies, which had been burned into my mind for ages.
When I was at home with my family this summer, it struck me that diets and body hatred is not just a problem for young women but women of all ages. My mum, who is now 50 years old, talks about her weight all the time. Not that she talks about how much she weighs but she complains about her body a lot. Losing 2 kilos is what she wants. 2 kilos? That’s nonsense. She wears is perfectly healthy, there is no way can these two kilos will make her life better or worse.
I think a lot of people have the problem that they project their problems onto their bodies. The media makes us believe that if we only eat salad and drink ice cold water, our lives will be perfect. Perfect husband, beautiful children and a great job – just by losing weight! Of course, it’s hard to completely ignore the media.
We are so glad that we can finally see clearly: our body is the problem, our body is the cause of everything bad in our life. This makes me sad. Just because you lose weight, your life won’t become better.
There is pressure on female bodies at all times. Whether it is the media or your family and peers. Everyone knows the expectations the world has on a young women. We try so hard and still can’t reach absolute happiness. If you have a look at fashion magazines and their display of women in the last 10 years, you will notice that little has changed.
We are told the lie that girls in the magazines are what we should aim for. But I think there is no ideal way you should look and nobody should tell you this lie anymore. Apart from the obvious fact that some girls have issues bigger than their appearance, it seems like little people understand that not everyone even wants to be the cultural ideal of a woman. I just want to be myself. And more important I want people to respect that and not shame me for being different than Western world’s ideal.
Dove’s ‘Real Beauty’ campaign is a step in the right direction
It is known that change takes time. Eventually and very slowly things really start to change. #loveyourbody or #bodypositive trends on Instagram and Tumblr are just the beginning. 5 months ago Taryn Brumfitt started a beautiful project called ‘Body Image Movement’. The mother of three, released a trailer for her upcoming documentary ‘Embrace’, about how she and other women view their body. Brumfitt wants to recreate the way women talk and act concerning their bodies.
Taryn Brumfitt’s special before and after
At the start of the project, Taryn asked 100 women to describe their body in one word. But only one beautiful, disabled women says what we should all think of ourselves. See the heartbreaking trailer here:
I cannot wait to see this documentary. It is beautiful how one woman can change the way so many others see their bodies. The body image movement is leading the way for more #bodypositive movements to come. Embrace your beauty! It is time to realise that the only opinion on your body which counts is your own.
Edited by Harriet Dunlea
Image sources:
http://www.connect2mums.com.au/cms/the-body-image-movement-taryn-brumfit/
http://verymodel.wordpress.com/2009/10/16/dove-campaign-vanity-on-a-different-level/