Our human race is diverse, made up of people of varying weights, heights, and muscle masses, yet we only view one look as "beautiful." Teens today are insecure with how they look if their bodies don't match the same stick-skinny, imperfection-free figure that they see on TV, online, and on social media. While, yes, this figure is beautiful, it is certainly not the only form of beauty; in fact, all bodies are beautiful because they do the most incredible thing: they allow us to be part of this beautiful life, to be so incredibly capable as human beings, to have conscious thought, creativity, love, and so much more. The reappearance of this “perfect” figure is unrepresentative of our dissimilar population, driving us away from appreciating our imperfections and towards believing that we must fit a certain mold.
I too, am a product of this glorified image in the media. My battle with my weight has lasted many years long, and I continue to be affected by it every single day. When I was 12 years old, I went on my first diet. I was 108 pounds back then. 5'2. I thought that the couple of pounds I had gained while maturing were the end of the world. That was the beginning of my story—a beginning that led to multiple issues with eating.
But I often go back to those first days, when I was 108 pounds and cutting out entire food groups from my diet in order to lose weight, and I wonder why the hell I thought I needed to. The answer, I realized, is simple: society. Everything I had been exposed to up until that point was telling me I had to be bone skinny in order to be accepted. I didn't know any better; how could I have? We, as humans, are total products of our environment, and when we grow up in a society that glorifies one type of imagine, there is no question that we will be compelled to look just like it.
The consequences of this glorified image are severe—body-image issues, eating disorders, depression, anxiety, and even suicide. Teens fail to understand that the images that they see are not accurate representations of healthy, realistic bodies, and it's entirely not their fault. In many cases, the models that we see on TV aren't even accurate depictions of healthy individuals; instead, the models unhealthily restrict their food intake, or their photos are retouched heavily to mask imperfections. And therefore, we aspire to be figures that do not even exist in real form!
How can we fix this problem? Awareness. With increased awareness and push for change, hopefully the media will incorporate individuals of all forms into their work, terminate photo retouching, and encourage the promotion of natural beauty. Being exposed to models of all varieties will encourage our world to accept all body types, leaving the definition of “beauty” open-ended.
I hope that one day my future daughter can live in a world where she can turn on the TV and see a wide variety of shapes and sizes. I hope that she will never have to question her beauty because of what she sees around her.
Our bodies, as long as they're healthy, should be the last thing we worry about. Let's make it so individuals can focus on what really matters—their loved ones and their life goals.
