Growing up in an era tethered to phones, the media, and pressured by the online anonymous, millennials are constantly exposed to the sharp knife of public opinion. Ads showcase the perfect body, movies detail the ideal relationship, and online personalities cease to halt the romanticism of the perfect life. In a time fueled by constant comparison, society feels pressured to look and act a certain way; pushing to detrimental heights to attain the unattainable.
Body image takes the forefront of media fueled issues. While flipping through a magazine readers are faced with endless images of the decidedly perfect models; size 0, with flawless skin, toned arms, and a perfectly smooth stomach. These magazines do not showcase stretch marks that tell the story of a little girl transitioning into a woman, laugh lines bracketing a smiling mouth, or the beautiful scar that brandishes your forehead because of a mistake you made when you were a girl. The magazines do not capture the beauty in curves or all the all-nighters that cause under eyes to be tinged with blue. They lack our humanity, but cause us to question whether our imperfections are our beauty.
Looking in the mirror I critique my imperfections. The expectation to have a perfect body causes me to twist and turn, looking at the curve of my stomach and the roundness of my face. The craving for the perfect complexion causes me to lean closer to the mirror to inspect my pores, searching for any marks. The mirror screams back all the flaws I need to change, but these “flaws” are only seen by my critiquing eyes. These so called “flaws” I have determined are fueled by social surroundings, fed by the media, and reinforced by self doubt.
As I grow older I feel myself grow stronger. I realize I cannot live my life measuring my beauty based on my waist size or the coif of my hair; instead I love the dimples I got from my dad and the slope of my nose which mirrors my mom's. However, as I build myself up I see the media breaking young women down. Recently there have been increasing accounts of body shaming among young women. Thousands have been taking part in the “Skinny Challenges” in China. The Chinese Skinny Challenges include thousands of women; posting photos of themselves comparing the width of their knees to an iPhone 6, the capacity of their hollow collar bones to hold coins, and the circumference of their wrists being so small they can wrap currency around them without a gap. Last month, “The Paper Challenge” circulated the web, causing men and women alike to post photos of how they reached the optimum measurements, which would be “proved” if an 8x11 sheet of paper could cover their midriff when held up to their bodies.The hunger to be thin is endangering our society, causing extreme thinness, psychological detriment, and physical deterioration as individuals attempt to push their bodies to achieve these levels of unhealthy, but “ideal” body image. Although the Skinny Challenges are an extreme example of how individuals alter themselves to achieve what has been deemed physically ideal, today’s society seems to be constantly critiquing the human body.
“Plus-size” models are applauded for being comfortable with their natural bodies, but these “plus-size” poster children are typically a size six or eight… and the last I checked that was not plus-sized. The meaning of plus-size is shrinking and the measurements of standards such as small, medium, and large are as well. In one store I may be a small, while in the same day I might step next door and find myself needing to buy an extra large. Due to how society conditions us to conceptualize clothing size I sometimes feel my heart pang: Me? An extra large? How? Our generation has been consistently pressured to shrink our waists meanwhile somehow maintaining desirable curves in all the “right” places, a contradictory and seemingly impossible task.
We find ourselves in a physical and mental war, we need to be toned, but soft to touch; curvy, but only to an extent; while remaining perfectly plucked, smooth, and put together. The media has driven us to chase this image which can only be created in a professional photo shoot, rather than reality. Recently, campaigns have launched endorsing real women in the fashion world. Women with curves, flaws, and imperfections just like you and me.
Don’t get me wrong, models are beautiful; it is there job to show up to the studio and be transformed into an unattainable beauty. However, all of the non-models out there are beautiful too. Rather than focusing on our measurements and the symmetry of our faces, let us celebrate the complexion you inherited because of your heritage, the crooked smile that reminds you of a passed love one, and the long legs that have carried you everywhere you need to be. We need to condition ourselves to truly believe that all beauty deserves to be celebrated, rather than remaining caught in the dizzying obsession that beauty fits in a specific mold.
Stay beautiful, keep smiling, and remember that your imperfections are your beauty. Despite what you may see in the media or read in a magazine, shape your own beautiful and own it.
