Body shaming is something that women deal with on a daily basis, and they really shouldn’t be. When were guys ever told that it is okay to ever talk to a woman in this way? I’ve spent a lot of time talking with various female and male friends of mine on this topic and most of them have all come to the same conclusion. Men usually do this to women as a projection of their own insecurities as a way to take the pressure off of them. They make it seem like there is some physical or mental problem that the woman has that they don’t want to deal with.

According to the Huffington Post, “Being fat, after all, is still viewed as the most horrible, devastating thing a woman could be--- a date with destiny comprised of a houseful of cats.” It doesn’t matter if the woman has a PhD, if she has just a few extra pounds she is suddenly ranked differently, seen as disgusting or a poor choice-maker. Tabloids can be blamed for most of this. Every magazine, whether it be Elle, Vogue, Vanity Fair, always has a glowing, fit male or female model gracing their cover. This has become the ideal for girls everywhere, but it is horribly unrealistic. What is unknown to one’s eye is that these cover photos are photoshopped within an inch of their lives, noses shaved down, torsos lengthened and breasts enhanced to create these perfect gods and goddesses. While I say this, I also recognize that there are celebrities working to fix this stereotype.

Lena Dunham, and her co-star from Girls Jemima Kirke, recently posed for the New Zealand lingerie label Lonely. They went without Photoshop for this campaign to show off their curves and what a real woman’s body should look like. They were promoting the Lonely Girls Project, a Tumblr-based blog created to show real women posing in lingerie to empower and create body positivity. According to Lonely designer Helene Morris, the line is “for women who wear lingerie as a love letter to themselves.” Notice that this is a company working out of New Zealand. Other countries have so much more of an open mind to beauty standards for women, so when will the US catch up to this trend? I cannot wait for the day that girls feel comfortable in their own skin and can be their own person, the day when they don’t feel like they have to fit into the tiniest dress or skirt just to be considered ideal in our society.

For now, I’ll leave you with this. You should never let a man or even another woman’s opinion push you down. While yes, words can be very powerful, especially when they pertain to your physical appearance, you need to remember that you are your own person. The strength that you have only comes from you. Don’t punish yourself for what one other person thinks of you. Find your power and hold on to it.