Glossy magazines, social media and photoshop have made modern society a veritable landmine for men and women alike struggling with their body image and self-talk. When we are constantly bombarded with unrealistic beauty standards, it is easy for negative thoughts to creep in and unhealthy comparisons to be made.
While this issues generally affects women more prominently, it is not a solely female problem and often men struggle in silence. Approximately 91% of women are unhappy with their bodies and resort to dieting to achieve their ideal body shape.
This is a frankly horrifying statistic. Our bodies do so much for us and bless us with the ability to move, enjoy life and function. So, why are we conditioned to be so self critical? The simple answer is, we shouldn’t be.
We, as a society, must move towards and era of social acceptance. Towards, a society that is more health conscious than look conscious.
We are calling on the community to acknowledge that all bodies are important, and all bodies deserve politeness, honour and care from ourselves and from others. This is true in all circumstances, but particularly in spaces where people are affected by eating disorders.
Having an unhealthy relationship with your body can negatively affect you in a multitude of ways which is why we must all take steps to build a healthy relationship with our bodies. To start with, we can do three key things.
Reject Diet Culture
dieting and diet culture proliferate the idea that thin/small bodies are more valuable and attractive. It often involves a pre-occupation with dieting and exercise to alter body size, and can extend to cosmetic procedures to achieve these goals. Failing to adhere to the standards of diet culture can cause anxiety, shame, worthlessness and in some cases, eating disorders. It can be hard to disentangle yourself from diet culture because it can be everywhere, from movies, TV, social media, advertisements, to health professional advice, family and social beliefs.
Cleanse Your Social Media
Being constantly surrounded by ‘perfect’ bodies will only do negative things for your mental health and your progress. We must remind ourselves that we have complete control over who you follow and what you choose to watch. Put your mental health first and remove people who promote unrealistic beauty standards and negatively impact your body image.
Embrace and Rewire Our Thinking to Acknowledge Health At Any Size Principles
We must affirm a holistic definition of health, which cannot be characterized as simply the absence of physical or mental illness, limitation, or disease. Rather, health exists on a continuum that varies with time and circumstance for each individual. Health should be conceived as a resource or capacity available to all regardless of health condition or ability level, and not as an outcome or objective of living. Pursuing health is neither a moral imperative nor an individual obligation, and health status should never be used to judge, oppress, or determine the value of an individual.
