Body Image

I don't feel like I am qualified to write a post about body image. Most of the articles I've read or discussions I've heard discuss body image as a largely female problem. And my guess is that is right.

I still think about it though. What I think about is rather troubling to me. The two TED talks at the end say more than I can. It bothers me that we live in a society that puts so much emphasis on body image that people think they are ugly. It starts early, too. In the first video, done by Meaghan Ramsey, she shows a screen shot of a 13 year old girl doing a YouTube video asking the question, "Am I Ugly?" As a 29 year old I'm hesitant to answer, but feel it's important. No, she wasn't.

They showed some of the comments:
"Yes, you are ugly as f****!"
"Yes. Go kill yourself."
I won't put any more, but there were several along that vein. If that girl ever does any kind of self harm, these people need to be indicted. Who says that? I don't think everyone is attractive to look at, but no one should be heartless. Build people up for goodness sake! Except for rare exceptions (Stalin and Hitler come to mind) you could find something good to say about everyone with little effort. Or you could just follow Thumper's mom's advice, "If you don't have nuthin' nice to say, don't say nuthin' at all."

I recently saw a photo post on Facebook of two friends. Both of them are rather attractive. On one of the pictures one of them made the comment, "My crooked smile makes me want to puke." Not wanting to bug her, since I haven't talked to her in several years and having a mortal fear or being a problem, I waited all day after I had read it for someone to say that her smile was nice. But no one did. So I did. I always thought she was one of the most beautiful girls I have ever met.

I am not guiltless when it comes to giving in to body image issues:

I don't like the way I look. Growing up someone's nickname for me was "skinny punk." I never liked it, but you bring it up and the moniker just gets used more. Then I was told that girls don't like skinny kids. Maybe that's true, but until I was 25 I couldn't gain any weight. From 25 to 28 it was way too easy to gain weight. So last year, at 5'6" (and a little bit) I weighed almost 180 pounds. In the last year I've worked myself down to almost 140. I still don't like the way I look though. My stomach still bulges a little when I sit down. I certainly do not have a six-pack. And if girls don't like skinny guys, they don't seem to like guys whose stomachs fold in funny ways.



Why Thinking You're Ugly Is Bad For You- Meaghan Ramsey, TED

Looks Aren't Everything, Believe Me I'm A Model- Cameron Russell, TED

Everybody's Fool- Evanescence