My 12-year old cousin, Amelia, is tall and thin, but she does not see herself in that same light. It saddens me when she tells me that she looks fat and she needs to lose weight. Thing is, the same can be said of her older sister, Annie, who is 15-years old. I know when I was their age our families were very harsh on me and my weight. I have struggled with my weight and I try and not feel bad about myself, but sometimes when you hear people constantly telling you things like you should lose weight, it begins to wear you down. When Amelia and Annie were 8 and 5, respectively, I remember them asking me about the Disney princesses and asking me which one I liked the best and when I would tell them, they would respond with, “Oh no, she’s too fat.” When I look at Disney princesses, I see them all as thin princesses. I was very astonished that they were thinking like this at a very young age. I believe media plays a big role in our lives and especially in the lives of teenagers. For example, the media exploded when Jessica Simpson gained a few pounds, but they also did gave some attention to when actresses like Mischa Barton became scarily thin. When Jessica Simpson gained a few pounds, she only went to a size 6 and fluctuated a bit (Jessica Simpson weighs in on fat jokes, 2010) . When Britney Spears was ridiculed for gaining a few extra pounds, her reaction was this, “I looked like a fat pig” ('I looked like a fat pig,' says Britney after MTV fiasco, 2007) . If you were to look at Britney Spears during this time, she just looks a little bit curvier than she did previously, but not necessarily fat. This is who our younger generation looks up towards; women who struggle with their bodies and their image. I believe if our families and our peers do not pressure us to looking a certain way and to embracing our own bodies, that women around the world would not feel as self conscious as we do now. I believe that our media should be aware of the influence it has on young girls who have body image issues. I feel like if health educators can give girls the confidence they need to embrace their body image, that those girls would be less likely to having eating disorders. I believe there are certain people in the media who are trying to be open to diversity of body shape, size and color. Each person is made differently and no one person can have the same body as another. If educators can help girls understand the risks of eating disorders, then maybe these girls can understand the life they’ve been given is worth living healthily. If someone had encouraged me while I was growing up and told me to embrace my body, then maybe I wouldn’t be having such a hard time with my own personal body issues. I try to open my cousins, Amelia and Annie’s eyes to not focus on the flaws they have with their body image, but how beautiful they are.
The following site has a slideshow of many celebrities that had weight issues throughout their careers.
Resources:
Celebrities who got fat and thin. (n.d.). Retrieved October 27, 2010, from metromix: http://chicago.metromix.com/home/essay_photo_gallery/celebrities-who-got-fat/1052028/content
'I looked like a fat pig,' says Britney after MTV fiasco. (2007, September 13). Retrieved October 27, 2010, from Mail Online: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-480947/I-looked-like-fat-pig-says-Britney-MTV-fiasco.html
Jessica Simpson weighs in on fat jokes. (2010, March 4). Retrieved October 27, 2010, from New York Post: http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/jessie_weighs_in_on_fat_jokes_2duiUbwY1jPYKbhlPP0HNO
Great post! I've had younger girls in my family in the same situation. It is very sad that these negative thoughts are put into their heads at such young ages during important developing times.
ReplyDeleteI hope you continue to help them embrace their bodies the way they are.
-Courtney