It’s easy to go online and find articles about girls with eating disorders. It’s easy to go online and find articles about girls with body dysmorphic disorder. But one thing it’s not easy to do is find articles about girls who may not have any of these disorders, but still have a few issues here and there about their body.
Because the media has screwed us all up in a way, whether or not we like to admit it. I say this bluntly because I, myself, am affected – even as a girl with a healthy dose of self-confidence. The thing is, we relate body image issues with a form of self-hate, but you don’t have to hate yourself to fall under this category. Because the way the media speaks to us has infiltrated its way into the way we act, the way we think, and even the way we speak to ourselves.
1. The C-word.
No, not that C-word, the other forbidden one – that’s right: Carbs.
It’s not just the doing of the Atkins Diet or the Paleo diet… It’s TV shows, movies, ads on the subway trains, your favorite online publication. The c-word has been forced out of our vocabulary just as much as it has been out of our diets. We’ve been conditioned to avoid them at all costs to the point that we have to restrain ourselves every time we pass a bakery or go to the grocery store. Which only makes us want carbs even more since it’s only human nature to want that which you’re told you can’t have.
2. The mirror can be a warzone.
Thigh gap, cheekbones, toned arms, perky butt… These are all standards we’re constantly told to attain or told to want to attain. Which makes going looking at the mirror a bit of a self-judgment zone. As much as the media might tell us to “love” our bodies, there’s never a shortage of articles on “Ways to get a Kim Kardashian booty.” What’s more, when the media tells us to “love” our bodies, they seem to constantly pinpoint so-called imperfections, making their “We’re rooting for you” statement more of a backhanded compliment than anything else.
3. Exercise, glorification, and objectification.
I won’t dispute the fact that exercise is beneficial for our overall short-term and long-term health. Nor will I dispute that claim for eating healthily, either. But there is something to be said for the way Instagram has led to the glorification of gym addicts to the point that they’ve become spokespeople and celebrities.
Two things about Instagram… One: when we see a photo we only see a singular moment in time… We don’t see into these people’s lives, which actually only consists of going to the gym. (They don’t really do much else besides it.) Second: what sort of ambition are we fueling in young people when this social medium only praises a grotesque overabundance of material goods and ridiculous beauty standards? Perhaps this explains why there’s a plethora of twelve-year olds posting half-naked selfies onto their Instagrams…
4. We’re made to feel guilty about everything.
Maybe it’s just me, maybe I’m the only screwed up one. But everyday I’m wired to feel guilty at some point. Guilty about not having worked out: enough, or at all. Guilty about taking extra bread or dessert. Guilty about not measuring up to the expected standard. But why are we made to feel this guilt when we’re just living our lives? It’s time to let go of the shoulda-coulda-woulda’s and just continue enjoying our time on this planet.
5. The L-word.
When it comes down to it, does it just lead back to love? Do we do these squats just so someone will hit on us at a bar? Do we restrict ourselves from that bag of Cheetos so someone will find us more attractive in bed?
Whatever the answer might be, the question does loom over us. This isn’t to degrade the status of those larger health problems – because we all know how harmful they are – but perhaps it’s time to start addressing the smaller ways in the media makes us our own worst critics.
