Although one may have a positive body image about his or her self, many people tend to only have a negative body image. NEDA defines this negative body image as a distorted perception of one’s shape, convincing one’s self you are not attractive, and feeling such emotions as sadness, awkwardness, depression, and self-consciousness. Personally, I feel media is the biggest factor of negative body image. People feel if they don’t look like the actress on television or the model on the cover of a magazine, they’re not beautiful.
Kim Kardashian, reality television personality, is greatly known for her ideal figure, flawless skin, perfect hair, and so on. Women, especially teens and college students, look up to someone like Kim Kardashian because they feel she is the perfect role model just because she is perfect on the outside. Yes, Kardashian is a beautiful woman and nobody is able to take that away from her, but Photoshop and multiple surgeries play a huge role in the way she looks. Her body may seem perfect, but it’s on the inside what truly matters.
Nearly 91% of women are unhappy with their shape and resort to dieting to look and feel better. Unfortunately, only 5% of woman in America have that “perfect” body we see in the media. On April 7th 2016 in an interview, Jennifer Lawrence talked to the New York Times about body image and wants to redefine the word “normal.” Lawrence states: “I would like us to make a new normal-body type. Everybody says, ‘We love that there is somebody with a normal body!’ And I’m like, ‘I don’t feel like I have a normal body.’ I do Pilates everyday. I eat, but I work out a lot more than a normal person. I think we’ve gotten so used to underweight that when you’re a normal weight it’s like, ‘Oh, my God, she’s curvy.’ Which is crazy!”
Lawrence’s statement is nothing, but true. In today’s society, as soon as we see someone a normal weight we feel as if they’re overweight because that’s what we learned growing up. According to the body mass index, someone who is 5’4” and 140 pounds is considered borderline overweight. Personally, I believe that is nothing, but inaccurate. The average sized woman should not feel overweight in society, but unfortunately she is considered it.
Yet again, another great factor of body image is that men except women to look a certain way. Personally, I feel that this is one of the greatest factors from a young age. I can recall around the age of nine or ten, boys in my grammar school class picking on the heavier girls calling them rude words like “fat” or “ugly.” I definitely feel from this age and on, the girls that were picked on grew up feeling like they weren’t beautiful enough.
One of the greatest effects of having a negative body image is eating disorders like Anorexia and Bulimia. People who suffer from these mental disorders are too focused on the way they look than their physical health. These diseases can lead to thinning of bones, brittle hair and nails, yellow skin, severe constipation, low blood pressure, cardiovascular issues, brain damage, infertility, lethargy, intestinal distress, and so on. Nearly 15% of women aged seventeen to twenty four have eating disorders, 40% of female college students have eating disorders, and 91% of female college students have attempted to diet. It is truly a shame that this many people suffer from eating disorders and feel like their bodies are not good enough for society. Unfortunately, as a college student, I know multiple people who suffered and still suffer from these disorders.
In today’s society it is becoming more and more common to see people suffering from obesity. On average, nearly thirty five percent of Americans in the United States are considered obese. The problem of obesity is so much more than people being overweight. It is how society reacts to and treats these overweight people. People who are obese not only have to look in the mirror every morning and face the fact that they are overweight, but also have to face obesity’s stigma in society. These people could be a teacher that educates your children, a doctor that saves your life, a judge that makes an important decision, but other people will continue to look at them, as all they are is obese. They also have all the same qualities as every other human being on this earth. They have feelings, they have wants and desires, and they set goals. The only thing that sets us apart from them is that they carry more weight, but society will never just look at it as just that. Obese and overweight individuals who are targets of stigma should feel just as worthy, important, and loved as all other human beings.
As a college student, I wish there was more that I could do to prove to my friends that body image doesn’t define you. You can achieve your life long desires and dreams no matter what you look like. As equal creations of God, us humans are all perfect in our own unique way and nobody is able to take that away from you.
But seriously, WHO'S TO JUDGE IF SOMEONE IF BEAUTIFUL OR NOT? Most definitely not me or anyone reading this.
