Everyday we are faced with or rather bombarded by image upon image of what is considered "beauty" in todays world. The media fuels the concept of beauty. The image is one of thiness. It leaves me wondering:
Who is it exactly that has the authority to define beauty? Concepts of beauty and "perfection" have always changed with the times and with place. We have no reason to believe that 20 years from now , our concept of beauty will not be very different from what it is now.
The issue of beauty as thinness is quite complex, much more than it seems.
Is it an issue of HEALTH
health= thiness therefore beauty= health=thinness ???
OR is it more superficial?
There also is the whole question of whether or not creating an ideal that is hard and even impossible to achieve for most women is made by the fashion and cosmetic industry in order to promote the sale of its products. By creating a feel of lacking, being insufficient ( not pretty enough, not thin enough, not young enough) women are meant to feel they need to be better. they need that face cream, they need to fit into that dress!
Art and photography has always been in a sense, whether directly or more subtly, a documentary of humanity at various points in time. If we compare imagery of women as portrayed in the past to now. The difference is astounding. When I walked theough the National Gallery of Art ( Washington) recently I was awed by the various concepts of beauty. From the chizzled, muscular , bulky bodies to more shapely, thick yet soft forms. The art alone was a testament to the change in the concept of beauty with time. If we compare these images alone with what we see today on billboards, magazines, advertisments then the comparison is almost unreal.
Here are some of the pictures I took of art at the museum:
A movie I really enjoyed that I remembered whilst writing this is "Real Women Have Curves" (2002). It deals with body image issues, concepts of beauty and the role weight plays in it all. Are larger women beautiful? Is accepting yourself as a bigger woman a cop out from actively trying to be healthier and where is the line that divides it all?
REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES: Movie Trailer. Watch more top selected videos about: Real Women Have Curves, Michelle Moretti
For me I have always associated a certain stigma to the word FAT. Fat has always had for me a negative connotation. Nobody ever spoke of being Fat in a good light. To me the word always had some kind of hateful feeling attached to it. Does anyone even use fat as a compliment? Yet we hear " wow look how thin you got!" all the time. Is something wrong with this? Is it purely because fat is associated with poor health or is there something more to it? The term to me has taken on a derogatory meaning similar to the way "gay" may be used negatively. It is a means of separating someone from yourself. To me it seems to be a way to validate oneself through putting down another. Whilst in describing a person it may be true that they are overweight and indeed "fat". But must the word "Fat" always come with a sense of spite , anger and even humor at another's expense.
This brings to mind something that happened to me the other day. Well I shouldnt say happened , its more of one of those "AHhaha" moments. I too have fallen into the great desire to be not thin but a bit less curvaceous lets say. I have rid my diet of any drink that is sugar infused ( for the most part). This has helped a lot even when I splurge on junk. However I find that I just need that sweet in my diet and cant let it go. A couple of years ago I started using artificial sweetner to give me at least that physcological illusion of sugar. However, I find that over time I have become overly dependant upon it. I am continually reminded by my friends and family how unhealthy it is. Yet my usual causal response is
"well at least i will die thin and happy". I have been saying this for years as my retort. Not once, in those 4 years did I think twice about the meaning of it. But somehow last week as I repeated it, something else clicked in my head. I found myself thinking "Wait wait just a second!" "Am I really ok with sacrificing myself, my health and my life for the potential of being 'thin'" And does thinness even guarantee happiness? For so long I had defined my happiness in terms of the size pants I wear and I know to a great extent I still do. But when did it happen that I would rather choose thinness over health and when did this superficiality take over the way I think about and value myself. It was then that I realised that something had to be done about this, and I'm not just talking about my unhealthy eating practices like this, I am talking about how I and other people (especially women) perceive themselves through their bodies.
For a long time I was postponing this blog out of my insecurities and fears of what people might think but I realised then more than ever the need for converstation. The need for support. The need to come together and understand who we are as women and for those that are male to understand the women in our lives better.
Nothing is wrong with being thin. There are healthy thin women and unhealthy thin women, there are healthy fat women and unhealthy fat women. In my opinion : Thin is beautiful and Fat is beautiful! It is a struggle to adopt this view in a society where we constantly put ourselves and each other under the microscope for any possible imperfection. I think rather than criticize ourselves and others based on our bodies we must first come to accept ours for what it is: its strengths and its weaknesses. Only though self acceptance and body love can we promote the good self esteem that then leads to the acceptance of others. If we accept ourselves we have no reason to put down others to feel better about ourselves! Though we all fall victim to it from time to time I suggest we all try our best not to judge someone purely by the way they look; the size they wear. There is so much more to a person than that!
Tell me : What is your concept of beauty? What role do you think weight plays in beauty? In your country what is a sign of beauty? Do you think self acceptance and love should be promoted over the need to be thin or healthy? What is your opinion on FAT? What role does love and body acceptance play in all this?
Final Thought:
LOVE YOURSELF. ACCEPT YOURSELF. DON'T JUDGE YOURSELF BY OTHERS JUDGEMENTS. No matter what size you wear LOVE AND ACCEPT YOUR BODY! Nothing is wrong with wanting to change it , but do it for you and do it in a healthy manner!
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