Hey Readers!
We wax, shave, clip, colour and curl. We run, lift, squat, jump and sweat. We primp, tuck, apply, check and double check. We watch ourselves in the mirror, judging, fixing, scrutinising and wishing for change. We spend hours scrolling through “perfect people,” wishing we could have her thigh gap, his hair or that body. We submerge ourselves into shows that say we aren’t good enough, magazines full of skinny tips and diets that make us sick. We have been taken down the rabbit hole into a land of self-doubt and we aren’t quite sure how to get out.
While the rest of the world is caught up trying to solve worldwide hunger, child labour and human trafficking, it’s easy to dismiss our problems as “small.” If these “small” problems, such as body image, are really so insignificant, why is it that all through our schools and playgrounds we see young people suffering from anorexia, self harm and mental illnesses?
The reality is, we all care about how we look. We might not care all day everyday, but when it boils down, we care about how people see us. But why do we seek acceptance from strangers? Why do so many people have a negative body image?
Let’s be honest for a second. When you walk past the new girl at school, your first thought is always to do with her appearance. Whether it be how much make up she put on that morning or the way she wears her hair, our minds are quick to size up someone and form an opinion on them before we even say “hello.”
In order to understand our obsession with how we look, we need to understand a little bit about body image. The term “body image” was coined in the 1930’s and refers to how a person sees themselves in relation to what society calls beautiful. “Beautiful” is a very loose word, but society uses it to bombard us with ideas about how we should look and act. We have created it and we are consumed by it.
Body image destroys. I’m not going to give you a “top ten tips to improving your body” because I know first hand that no matter what you do to try and improve yourself, the world will always say there’s something wrong with you. It might be the angle of your nose, the crooked tooth in your smile or the way your ears stick out.
Our human nature tends to see the faults in our bodies like a big black smear along a white piece of paper. And how can we not? We spend hours of our time posting, scrolling, tweeting, tumblring and instgramming pictures of “perfect girls”. We see “thigh gaps” and tiny waists all through our newsfeed and dashboard. But are these really attributes that make someone “beautiful?”
So what is beauty? Where can it be found, and can we grab it when it isn’t looking and lock it up in a castle forever? I assure you, it isn’t found in a 12 pack of diet pills or a promise for a skinnier waist line. Beauty is found within the inner depths of your soul. It’s the courage it takes to stand up to a bully. It’s the strength you show when your parents get a divorce. It’s the compassion you show to your siblings. It’s the self control when you want to eat all the cupcakes. When you’re beautiful on the inside, it reflects on the outside, regardless of how many bumps and bruises you’ve picked up over the years. The little things that make you YOU are the qualities you nurture inside of you. Inner beauty shines through layers of foundation. I’m not saying self confidence is going to happen over night but accepting your flaws and realising your inner beauty is a great place to start. Smile, Beautiful!
– Anastasia
To Heal a Generation 