Societal Standards of Beauty + Body Positivity
I came across a youtube video that showcases the “ideal body type” throughout history. It starts in Ancient Egypt and goes through to the 2010’s.
It was impactful for me because in today’s day and age of social media, constant comparison and easy access to everyone’s highlight reel …. it’s impossible not to compare yourself to everyone else. But this video shows just how different every era considered woman beautiful. From small petite figures in ancient Egypt to fuller bodies in ancient Greece and the Victorian era. Many of them show examples of how women modified their bodies to achieve a specific look. From corsets in the Victorian Era to plastic surgery in today’s era.
I still to this day compare myself to others around me. Will I be the biggest person at this event? Is everyone else skinnier and fitter than me?
I have pictures of me throughout my teenage years where I can recall thinking I was fat. I even remember vividly a time where I was swimming with friends but I pretended I was too scared to jump in the lake because I was horrified to get into my bathing suit. In the pictures, all my friends were in their bathing suits and having fun and I was still fully dressed.
And guess what… by societal standards, absolutely no one thought I was fat. I missed out on making those memories because of not loving my body.
And here’s the tricky part. What do we do about it? Right now “body positivity” and “health at every size” campaigns are everywhere. And there are many polarizing debates about these.
Are we promoting obesity?
Are we promoting unhealthy lifestyles?
In my opinion, it’s a bit of a blurry line. As a female, growing up I definitely felt pressure to be skinny, to fit in to what everyone else looked like. Diets and exercise were for weight loss, you were praised heavily for losing weight and one size fits all stores like Brandy Melville were all the rage.
Its really hard when everything you see is telling you that your body is not ok and you should be ashamed for it. This is particularly dangerous for pre- and pubescent girls who tend to gain weight as they go through puberty. Something they can’t always change due to fluctuating hormones.
With that being said … no I do not think we should be promoting obesity.
I ALSO think obesity is a gravely complex condition and there is SO much more to it than just eat less, move more and all your problems will be solved.
So this is were I think COMPASSION should enter the equation. I think we should promote healthy behaviours including regular exercise and eating a balanced diet AND not make people feel shame or devalued because of their bodies. I think we can have both. Making people feel shame and guilt will leave them less successful in changing their lifestyle than if they feel supported and encouraged.
Finally, you as a human are worth more than just your physical presentation. I think we should value people for their whole person, mind, body and soul. What they can do, not what they look like.
My 3 takeaways of how we move forward
Throw in some non-physical appearance based compliments .. try these: I love your energy, I’m happy to have you in my circle, your strength inspires me.
Be compassionate to yourself and others, we’re all just trying our best
Be a leader for those in your life. Show up, include others and be kind
