The unrealistic images of beauty and health in the media are difficult for any woman to be compared to.

Women are constantly told by the multitude of images within society that we have the wrong this, the wrong that. We are too large here, too small there, and our lives would be improved overall if we just bought such and such products to make ourselves attractive. Fortunately, some progress is being made. Campaigns about size diversity and healthy self-esteem are becoming more present within mainstream media. These campaigns, however, will yield little result so long as women continue to project these harmful opinions onto one another. Women must begin to take responsibility for their actions and words if a realistic and inclusive image of beauty and health is to become the norm.

Quite often, words of discouragement are exchanged between women. When upset with one another, instead of calling attention to the actual problem, attacks are made on physical appearances. Unnecessary attention is drawn to weight and looks in order to insult and criticize.

Women cannot continue to act toward each other in this manner. We should not project our insecurities onto one another. We should not hold each other to the oppressive standard of the media. We must first learn to love our own bodies as they are, and then project that love onto one another through support. There is no need to draw attention to the weight or appearance of the individual who cut you off in traffic or the person who wasn’t pleasant at the register. We must stop judging each other through the lens that corporations make us hate ourselves through.

It may seem too simple, but one of the best things for improving self esteem is distancing one’s self from those unrealistic images. Turn off your TV. Stop purchasing “beauty” and “fashion” magazines. Boycott anything that makes you feel bad about yourself! I guarantee that once you’re not bombarded by products designed to change your appearance (according to what’s hot and what’s not) you’ll begin to see yourself and others in a much more positive light. Support yourself, just as you are, and project that love onto others. Perhaps then, one day, the images we’ll see in the media will be healthy, diverse, and inclusive. Perhaps then, I will be able to turn the television back on.

Comments

ChipSharde

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How do you explain the historical aspects of this social phonomenon prior to development of radio technology and the printing press? Women operated in a very superficial social register in all periods including this one. Take Renaissance and Enlightenment era culture in Western Europe as an example. No TV, no newspapers. Parlors were a popular means of disseminating information, and you had to look good - or at least not smell like piss and filth.

Then there's the classic Hellenistic period. It was on the men to look a certains way and stuggle to achieve a socially percieved standard of beauty. What I'm getting at is: how can you gaurantee that by denying oneself of modern media forms one's self image will improve? Is being ignorant of social standards going to help me succeed in being anything but a pariah?

Thursday 12 November 2009, 10:11

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