Today, the world wants us women thin….super thin. As this ad shows, not too long ago, they wanted you plump and curvy…and before that, most cultures liked women fat. What I want to know is how did a woman’s weight become a fashion feature? I mean, we’re talking about a human body, the vehicle of life, not a designer dress.
I know there’s a whole psychology that goes into all these “weight fads” and I could probably ramble on about it for a while, point a few fingers and get myself all worked up…maybe even swear a little, but I’ll spare you all of that. Instead of making a case against societal attacks on the female body in the form of bi-polar weight-loss expectations, I’ll make a case for my solution (because I’m narcissistic like that). My solution for all of us women AND men is to forget about all this skinny, fat, curvy, skeleton crap that we’re always putting on the female body and strive towards and support HEALTHY instead. Obvious right? But wait a sec, with all the movies, magazine covers, advertisements and brainwashing, do you even know what healthy is anymore? You might be surprised. I know I was.
According to the National Institute of Health’s Body Mass Index, a woman that is 5’6 should weigh between 118-148 pounds, a woman 5’8 should weigh between 125-158 and someone my height, 5’9 should weigh between 128-162. I don’t know about you, even if I was working out and solid muscle, if I stood on the scale and saw it anywhere near 162 pounds, I might actually start crying, curl up in fetal position and swear to never eat again. However, that would be a healthy weight for me. The problem is, I, like all the women I know, have been programmed to want social acceptance more than my physical health. How messed up is that?
This realization hit me a few years ago when I worked for literally the largest fitness manufacturer in the world. They, like everyone else, found really thin models with chiseled bodies for all of their ads and print collateral. Try feeling attractive in that place! They used toners to enhance the muscle already there for photo shoots and then, like everyone else, photo shopped even the most “perfect” looking people to make them look even better. Yes it is sick, and yes it is shameful, but this is the society we live in and the people we are choosing to measure ourselves against. And while we can get mad at advertisers and Adobe Photoshop, and yes I recognize their influences definitely affect our views, the ultimate responsibility still lands on us. These companies aren’t holding our hands and making us starve ourselves or feel bad for being chubby —their advertising techniques only work because we are vulnerable enough to let them.
Isn’t it time we all saw through the madness? Isn’t it time we took our bodies and our health into our own hands and stopped following weight fads in exchange for a better quality of life and longevity? Forget about trying to look like a model− those images aren’t real. Abandon societies shallow, fleeting ideals and do what is right for you on the most personal level. Find out what is healthy for you, your body type and your age and aim for that instead of a size 4. Do this for yourself and don’t hold other people to unhealthy standards either. Forget skinny, choose HEALTHY!
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