If I have no thigh gap, and the girl next to me does, but why are we so self conscious about our legs?
Because one person says, ‘here’s my trick to the perfect thigh gap, you should try it!’ and another says, ‘go eat a burger, you’re nothing but skin and bone!’ both adamant that they know what is best for you despite a lack of medical records or any knowledge of your life at all.
You can never win in the eyes of society anymore. Eight is now plus sized, curves are gorgeous but don’t you dare get cellulite, and if you do, photoshop it out, and be skinny but not too skinny.
If you can’t tell, I have a lot to say about the body image topic. Let’s start with the classic issue of unrealistic standards or examples set by the media. How is someone supposed to have a 20 inch waist, a perfectly perky chest, be four feet tall and have toned legs and satin sunkissed skin, if the model only has those thanks to photoshop? Her body is physically impossible. And an even better question: what was wrong with her? Why was she not good enough without editing? Not even the model can look like she does on the cover, and that image is being put out there for girls to see and associate with pretty, making them aspire to the unachievable #bodygoals.
Next, let’s talk about the media’s attempts to right their wrongs with plus size campaigns. Size eight is not plus size. 12 is average. Please stop making below average women feel plus sized, because we all know the sad connotation that comes with that clothing section. As far as the body positivity campaigns go, the only ones I see as effective are Dove and Aerie. Both represent all body types from petite to plus, all gorgeous and wearing the same types of clothes, whereas some show women as not being able to wear the same kind of clothes just because of their size. In other businesses I can’t help but notice a distinct lack of variation. It seems they are so focused on correcting their mistakes that they are excluding smaller body types. News flash: they can feel bad about themselves too, despite the fact they are ‘closer’ to the ‘perfect image.’ There is such a thing as skinny shaming, and it is just as bad as fat shaming.
There’s a lot wrong with the media, society and how we define beauty, so much so that we no longer know what a real body looks like anymore. There are apps and programs everywhere to alter your images, and what's worse is that we feel the need to use them. I could go into plenty more, but I’m hoping you can pick up on most of it yourself and find it just as aggravating for all women as I do. It can’t be fixed by hiring only ‘plus sized’ models (that term is losing credibility with me), or saying a body feature is OK or not. The only way we can dig ourselves out of this hole that was dug so deep is for photographers and marketers to pick the best model for the job, take the picture, and publish it in all her original beauty.
On a day-to-day basis, don’t make anybody feel their size defines them in any way. You are beautiful, and you do not have to lose or gain a single pound for anyone but yourself. Considering how bad this problem has gotten, there is no quick and easy fix. But it’s your choice if you’re going to perpetuate the problem or slowly support the solution. Everyone is beautiful, so let them believe that too and stop body shaming, period.
