I think that it is way easier for someone to look you in the eye and say, "Hey, you're perfect just the way you are!" than it is to actually believe it. So I feel as if it is pretty safe to say that we all collectively have issues when it comes to body positivity. Instead of saying that we're all perfect and flawless and beautiful, I think that it is more beneficial we address that we this issue.
We've all been personally affected by this issue at some point in our lives. Our acquaintance to this negativity was most likely one of innocence but a damaging one at any rate. I've heard it all the time. If we want to label it something then it is usually labeled as ladies dressing room talk, but really this goes for anyone. Because I've heard qualms from men and women equally about their bodies.
And I think that we can all agree that this starts at a young age. For me, I was probably around six when I first started hearing this stuff from others until it latched onto me.
I also think that it is important that we recognize that not only have societal standards hit us towards this direction, but our view of this issue is skewed towards and on grounds of gender.
Sure, there is a prevalence of these issues swung in the direction of females in the media, but I think that is because we talk about that more. We hardly discuss the fact that these issues (i.e. issues with physicality, eating disorders, etc.) transcend grounds of gender. I feel as though this is an obvious fact, but I also seem to hear about this less and less.
Though we are making strides on the inclusivity of issues, this is my cry to open up the conversation about those which are mostly centered on women, or female groups. What we have here is not a gender-specific problem, but a society centered issue. Our social taboos, if you will.
We seem to have a lot of those. And it just seems easier to consume that women hate their bodies more than men because women were just taught at an earlier age to do so. And so it starts a cycle of us invalidating others' feelings because it seems less than food for thought if a woman isn't the one hating on her body.
But in reality, body acceptance is more than waiting for your next nose job or worrying about the scale. It's fixing the rate of perfection we strive to reach. It starts with, well, us.
While we're the cause and effect of the issue, we're also the solution. The solution of a larger discussion that usually stops with, "shut up you look fine." But maybe we don't have to end it with a superficial coat of sugar and find a better solution.
