It’s 2017, and the “perfect” body is either said to be a women with an hourglass figure with at least a C cup or a man with a six pack along with toned arms and legs. Why were these standards set? Most people would answer because it is the most appealing to the eye.
I’ve noticed that some people, even sometimes myself, will not even bother dating someone if they don’t fit their high body standards. We look past the fact that these people are beautiful, inside and out. The fact that these people don’t hit the “standards” so we reject them immediately.
When I look at dating apps, Tinder or Bumble, everything is based off looks. I don’t think these apps work because of that fact. How are we supposed to find that special someone when we can’t even get to know the person?
Body image is a huge problem that many people deal with and has led to disorders like anorexia, because he or she doesn’t fit in with the stereotype. I know body image has been a huge problem. It has affected my family and friends.
Everywhere in the media, I saw these perfectly fit and skinny women. I saw men that had body types of Abercrombie models and smiles that shined brighter than diamonds. I saw that the girls with "better" bodies on Instagram got more likes, so that meant it had to be better, right? I strived to be like those women, especially when I reached my teen years. I would slowly try to consume less and less calories a day, so that my stomach would be flatter and I assumed that people would like me more. I thought I would like myself better, but I didn’t.
I learned to realize that my body is beautiful.
And if someone cannot accept the fact that we don’t have a six pack or a flat stomach, then why would you want to be with someone like that anyway?
Being skinnier is not going to make a person any happier, and some people don’t realize this. Body positivity is a new trend that is going around the internet, and it is a wonderful thing. We should learn to love and accept ourselves for who we are. A little extra flap here and there or a lot of extra flap doesn’t mean we aren’t beautiful.
Now I am not stating that we should just let ourselves keeping growing until we pop like a balloon, because there is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to workout and we all want to be healthy. It's fine to not be perfectly fit, and to love ourselves for who we are.
We need self love and self acceptance.
The perfect body is your body.
