Why do we keep talking about body image? It's a question that has been on my mind for quite some time. As a female (NOT to say that this problem is unique to females, though), I have often felt inferior, not good enough, not thin enough, or not insert-any-other-adjective-here enough. All of those negative reactions because of how my body looks. What I have come to realize is that how my body looks has nothing to do with how healthy I am. A thin, lean body does not equate to a body that exercises or is well nourished with good food. A thicker, curvier body does not automatically mean the person inside of that body simply does not care if they are perceived as healthy or attractive. And, what is an attractive body, anyway? Don't we all have a different taste in clothing and food and just about everything else? Why can't the same be true for body styles? There is no universally attractive body. Why do we keep striving for one?
I have also come to realize that how my body looks has nothing to do with the kind of person I am. I know many people with bodies I admire but personalities I would not wish for in a million years. As children, we were taught to never judge a book by its cover. Right after that, we are taught that there is an ideal body we should strive for. We are taught to look at people's exterior and make judgements about them just based off of what we see. Let's instead teach children that they should strive to do good in this world, to make judgements about others based on how those people treat those around them and what is inside. Think of how much more tolerant we would all be if our society discouraged making rash assumptions about others based on appearance.
What if we took the amount of time we spend now on criticizing our bodies, talking about how we would rather look, and trying to figure out how much/little to eat and exercise to get there and instead we spent it on talking about ideas and issues. Think of the progress that could be made in our society if so many things stopped becoming solely related to the appearance of our bodies. We could use that brain power to help others or to empower those in need. In the end, there are an infinite amount of things more important than what our bodies look like.
In reality, many of us will continue to struggle with body image issues. And that's perfectly okay. It's really hard to change a mindset that we have had implanted in us since we were small children. But, I'm going to continue to wonder what would happen if we helped those struggling with body image and then stopped talking about it when it's not necessary. If we stopped pointing so much attention constantly on which celebrities gained or lost weight, on which of our friends works out the most or eats the healthiest, on who can go the longest without eating a meal? What if we instead discussed who went out of their way to help someone in need, who volunteered for a worthy cause, who explored a new place, or who read a great new book? Wouldn't we all be happier if exercise became solely something we did to relieve stress, strengthen ourselves mentally and physically, and see what our bodies are capable of? What if food became completely unassociated with the words 'good' and 'bad' and reverted to being simply food, free of guilt or negative connotations, or the desire to 'work off' what you ate? Imagine a world where Instagram was not filled with pictures of girls in bikinis or crop tops and comments designating them 'body goals.' Imagine a world where the biggest goal was to be kind, intelligent, and thoughtful to others. That sounds like a place I would want to live in.
My hope is that in the future, we can get back to an ideal of being healthy and happy instead of being thin and having abs (I'm looking at you, Kayla Itsines). In the larger scheme of things, there are so many more important things in the world than what your (or my) body looks like.
