Look, I get it. I'm not immune to this way of thinking at all. I'm a dancer. I've spent my life in front of mirrors scrutinizing my body in an attempt to get it to perform better. I've also recently had a baby, so I can criticize the shape of my abdomen all day if I let myself. For all of us, and women especially, It's easy to look at your (insert body part here) and think bad thoughts.
But, honestly, these thoughts aren't healthy. We don't need them. Most of us who have these self-loathing thoughts would never be so mean to someone else.
Unfortunately, this way of thinking is everywhere in our culture, and reinforced in lots of subtle and not-so-sublte ways. In the documentary Miss Representation, the film maker poses the question, "What would happen if everyone who spends time worrying about how their body looks instead spent that time improving the world?" A good question, indeed.
So I'm wondering if today we can just all decide to stop. I mean, really. Just stop being a jerk to yourself. And I promise I'll stop being a jerk to myself, too. Okay?
In the spirit of being a healthy person, take care of your body.
Exercise. Eat healthy food. And stop being mean.
I think this problem exists for both men and women equally... The difference between Men and Women in this situation is that women tend to be more outwardly mean to themselves (meaning they'll say "omg, I wish I had your hips, mine suck!")whereas men are more internally mean to themselves because generally men are a lot more tight lipped about their body issues than women... Both inward and outward self-deprecation are damaging and need to be quelled. Thanks for this post!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for posting!
ReplyDeleteI don't disagree that men and women both experience this, but I honestly can't speak for men because I'm not one. What is true is that women tend to be objectified more by the media than men, which is just sort of a symptom of a bigger problem. What is absolutely true is that many of us are afraid of failure, and that our view of our bodies is one way that this manifests.