Being body conscious goes as far back as the Ancient Greeks, who would go to great lengths to have the "ideal body." In Ancient Greece, they strived to have bodies that resembled their gods, which they believed would lead to not only perfect physical health, but perfect mental and spiritual health. The idea seems sound, but total body health is much more complicated than body shape. However, for women, fitting a certain mold is a concept that still runs strong in today's modern society, but it is not impervious to acts of rebellion. A recent movement -- "Real Women Have Curves" -- is one such movement that is made to threaten the narrow mindset society has of women's bodies.
Unfortunately, women's bodies have always been treated like a trend that goes in and out of style. The ideal body for women continues to change every couple of decades, as if women are supposed to be able to change their bodies like changing clothes. Being a curvier woman myself, when I first heard about the "Real Women Have Curves" movement I was all kinds of on board–however, as time passed, I began to notice some not-so-nice behavior from other curvy women who followed the movement.
I am all too familiar with the concept of "fat-shaming" and the idea that you have to be as thin as possible to be considered beautiful. Personally, I am not a fan of that, but I am also not a fan of women who are considered "fat" and "curvy" shaming women who do happen to be thin, naturally or not, and that's exactly what I was seeing.
Body shaming of any kind is toxic and destructive. There is no other way to put it. Shaming a body does not encourage the owner of that body to change in the way that is crucial to maintain a healthy lifestyle. It causes confidence issues and low self-esteem. A feeling of inadequacy and worthlessness that I have seen too many times lead to illness, anxiety, depression and other destructive behaviors, including in myself. We are taught from an alarmingly young age that the condition of our body according to society's standards determines our self-worth, and let me say that society's standards are not realistic.
When it comes to women's bodies, the truth is that real women come in all different shapes and sizes. Being a size 8-10 woman myself, most would say I'm an "inbetweenie," or a woman who sits in between society's idea of skinny and fat, but my pant size or body shape does not reflect my ability to be more a woman than any other woman. In fact, there is no set size that magically makes you more of a woman than any other. Instead of trying to fit the false and narrow mold that society tries to push on women, women should reject it. There is a veil that the $20 billion diet industry tries to cast over women to make them feel inadequate so that they will loathe their bodies instead of love and respect them. To accept the idea that all bodies are uniquely beautiful is a direct threat to the idealism that causes women to feel such crippling shame.
Beatrix Ost once said "In your body is a good place to be." Her words promote acceptance and love of one's own body. "Real Women Have Curves" has helped the masses become more understanding and accepting of this, but the next step is to embrace that all women are real women. So as a message from one woman to many, stand up for body acceptance! Encourage your fellow women and do not be afraid to lift the veil and promote love instead of shame.
