Beauty's in the Eye of the Beholder - Body Image article

Body image is something that the world has become obsessed with. We get bombarded everyday with the idea that you have to look a certain way to ‘fit in’, and this is usually disguised as a ‘healthy lifestyle’. The truth is, most of us do already live a healthy life, but because we always see the newest TV advertisements claiming that their product has less calories, and celebrities who are on the newest diet designed to help you lose 20 pounds in a week, we start to think that maybe we aren’t that healthy after all because we enjoy an extra slice of cake once in a while. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having some meat on your bones – that is what is healthy.

Which leads me on to what that makes us think this; the recent craze in becoming a Size 0, something I personally cannot comprehend. There’s no wonder why 74% of women are insecure about their looks when all we see are models who look like toothpicks. Statistically, only 5% of the female population have the media’s idea of the perfect weight. It is, also, a sad fact that 80% of children are afraid of becoming fat. This is the sort of thing that encourages eating disorders, which during an average lifetime, 50,000 people die from. There are the two types of eating disorder; one where you go to extreme levels to lose as much weight as you can, and the other going in the opposite direction where you binge eat. Now, if I am not mistaken, both of these are forms of insecurity, and why is everybody so insecure? Because of the media moulding what is idyllic.

I’ve been talking about female body image, but what about male body image? Well, masculinity is starting to creep up on us too. Using buff men to advertise a watch, what’s the relevance? There isn’t one. The reason why they use a lot of muscly men is to manipulate the minds of the male population. “If I buy this watch then  maybe girls will find me attractive” which really isn’t the case at all (unless the girls are really that shallow). The media has created this idea that men have to be fit, agile and muscly, which puts pressure on the boys as well as the pressure on girls. So does anybody really have a chance?

We don’t hear a lot about boys developing eating disorders which is why it is strange that up to 50% of sufferers are male, a significant amount being children. The reason male’s disorders are so quiet, is because most boys are afraid of being questioned about their sexuality if they talk to someone about it, and this would go against the media’s perception of masculinity.

It’s not just their weight that people are concerned with, appearance comes into it too. Let’s be honest, insecurities lie within each and every one of us. It’s no secret that a lot of people manipulate images of themselves to make them look more appealing, and we got that from the media using altered images in magazines, billboards, advertisements etc. They do this because society has produced an opinion on what is beautiful, but who cares if your cheek bones aren’t as prominent as his? Who cares if your hair isn’t as voluminous as hers? Who cares if your eyes aren’t the deepest shade of blue? There’s this word that we are all infatuated with; perfection. But we forget sometimes that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I think that body image is something we all need to slow down with. Personally, I don’t feel as if I should let somebody judge me on my appearance, but saying that, it's easier said than done. It’s sad that not everybody has that way of thinking, but we’re in the 21st Century now and there is no going back for us.