ANAD week is one of the most important weeks of the year not only for my sorority, but also for girls and boys everywhere. ANAD week stresses the importance of feeling comfortable in your own skin and highlighting your best qualities. The message behind ANAD is simple: your body isn’t wrong, society is.
Body image is obviously something that we as a society take very seriously. Everywhere you look there is a message telling you that in order to fit in and be “accepted” you have to be skinny.
Flip through a magazine and you see advertisements of tall, skinny, beautiful people who have clearly been airbrushed. Many people choose to ignore this, however, and attribute their self-esteem to celebrities and models.
Every year the Victoria’s Secret fashion show airs on television, and Twitter explodes with thousands of tweets regarding the event. Some girls joke, “LOL time to gorge myself with ice cream” while others state, “Not eating ever again….there goes my self esteem.”
While these appear to be harmless jokes on social media, there is certain darkness behind them. We are all told that skinny is beautiful and desirable, and that anything else is ugly and unacceptable.
Even celebrities are constantly bashed for being too thin or too fat. Need I remind everyone of the harsh comments regarding Kate Upton’s “cellulite” and Miley Cyrus’ “lack of ass”? The cover stories in Star shout, “KIM KARDASHIAN’S POST BABY BOD: HOW SHE DID IT IN 2 WEEKS.” If you don’t fit into the category of “perfect” image we have created, you are seen as an outsider. The thing is, this idea of perfection does not actually exist.
I will be minding my own business and scrolling through a website and the side advertisements will mostly pertain to weight. I will be scrolling through my Tumblr dashboard when all of a sudden a black and white image of a stick thin girl will pop up with comments underneath such as, “Why can’t I look like that?” The whole phenomenon of the oh-so -mazing “thigh gap” has also sparked from Tumblr, and I am calling it bullshit.
Girls with narrower hips and perfectly proportionate legs may not possess a “thigh gap” due to their build. Girls with wider hips might have one. A “thigh gap” does not determine whether or not you are actually fat or skinny and should not be used a defining factor in appreciating your body.
The whole attitude towards body shape and size bothers me for many reasons. Genetically, we are all different and cannot always control our weight. Calling someone too skinny is just as offensive as calling someone too fat. Insulting anyone regarding their body is insulting and bares more impact than you realize.
Eating disorders are common. Young girls see these actresses, models, and photos on the internet and strive to become that girl. Time and time again, we see people destroying their bodies just so that they can lose weight.
Why is it that skinniness is such an important thing? What about other traits that are important such as intelligence, kindness, and determination? I feel like people focus too much on their external appearance, and in the process forget what’s really important.
We are giving the wrong message to everyone. Why shouldn’t everyone just be happy with what they have? True, this is easier said than done. I myself am in no way 100% confident with my weight or how I look. The thing is, it’s so much easier to pick at your flaws than to realize what you like about yourself.
Whether you’re curvy or skinny or whatever other label you want to give yourself, own what you got. Highlight your favorite features and try to flatter the ones you aren’t as fund of. Hating your body is a vicious cycle and quite frankly, a waste of time.
ANAD week calls out society on its bullshit, which is one of the many reasons why I joined Delta Phi Epsilon. We are reminded that regardless of our insecurities, we are all beautiful. By choosing to focus on other things that matter, you will feel like a weight (excuse the pun) has been lifted off your shoulders.