TW: eating disorders
Although body positivity and body acceptance are trends circulating social media these days, how true are these messages that women of all ages are consuming? For decades, society has informed women of how imperfect they look – their waist is too big, their chest too big, their chest too small, their lower half too big, their lower half too small, their arms too flabby, their lips too thin, their bellies too soft. The media has perpetuated these fluctuating expectations, namely through movies that young women consume, that are damagingly influential such as by commenting when a girl gains weight and how its unattractive or how only the “pretty” girls have skinny and sculpted bodies, thus equating beauty and desirability with one’s weight and the shape of their figure.
Aside from just the media perpetuating this unhealthy standard and ideology, these influences stem from closer to home. Many young girls grow up with mothers who are terrified of their daughters getting fat, who are constantly having these young girls go on diets with them. Some of these mothers allow for their daughters to see just how insecure and unhappy they are with their own bodies, thus subconsciously encouraging the young girls to follow suit. This can lead to an unhealthy relationship with not just one’s body, but with the food one consumes as well. From a young age, girls are trained to be restrictive and picky with what they eat, thus reinforcing negative body image through maintaining a poor relationship with food.
Unfortunately, this can eventually lead to disordered eating, or even eating disorders, that many women can or will struggle with. By viewing both food and one’s body as the enemy, one can be in a constant state of distress, anxiety, and aggravation that acts as a black hole of overpowering negativity. Exercise can be taken to the extreme, calories counted and tracked religiously, avoidance of social gatherings for fear of only being offered richer foods one has long since rejected, binging late at night in the kitchen with the lights turned off, sitting by the toilet hours later with stomachs now only filled with regret. This is an extremely unhealthy way to live.
The human bodies need nourishment and deserve food no matter what an individual does throughout the day, whether it be sitting on the couch or going for a 10 mile hike. Our body is our temple and we only get one so we need to make sure to take care of it. Obviously change does not occur overnight, it is a work in progress, and could be a grueling one at that. However, what needs to be brought to the forefront of this decades-long struggle is that our bodies deserve to be treated with kindness. Ultimately, it is about what our body is capable of, not what it looks like. Your arms get to hug the person you love, your legs let you dance late at night with your friends, your belly gets to laugh loudly when something tickles your heart. Our bodies are capable of amazingly wonderful things and we should be less focused on how it looks and rather shift our perspective to appreciating all that our body does for us.
So remember what your body is deserving of:
- A full night’s sleep (8-10 hours)
- 3 balanced meals a day (protein, fruits and veggies, carbs)
- Sweet treats
- Movement (ex: yoga, pilates, hot girl walks, lifting, dancing, etc)
- Destressing/detoxing
- Hydrating with lots of water
Healing one’s relationship with one’s body and with food can be difficult. But it is more than worth trying. Because your body deserves to be treated with love, and so do you.
