Recently after watching a couple Youtube videos I came across an interview with activist and actress Jameela Jamil in which she discusses body image and feminism in today’s society. For those unfamiliar with Jameela Jamil she plays Tahani Al-Jamil on the television show The Good Place and she also started the I Weigh movement. She started the movement after seeing an image of the Kardashians with numbers on them. Assuming these numbers represented their net worth she was appalled when she discovered it was actually their weight. She goes on explaining how what a woman’s weight is often what the media and public reduces women to despite any accomplishments they may hold such as running successful businesses or working in great careers. In light of this she posted an image of herself with what she weighed online only it was not her weight, it was her accomplishments, her relationships and her career. After posting the photo the movement soon took off with thousands of people posting images of what they weigh in terms of the things they are proud of. Soon Jameela created an Instagram account for the movement due to the overwhelming response and today the account (@i_weigh) boasts 466 thousand followers on Instagram.
As someone who like many others has struggled with body image the I Weigh movement delivers the important measure that what you weigh is irrelevant to your accomplishments, relationships and goals. Society perpetuates a fascination and obsession with appearance especially female appearance. Instagram and magazine pages overflow with photoshopped and airbrushed images promoting a sense of false perfection of the female body making people feel insecure about their own appearance. Whether we acknowledge it or not those images do have an effect on us by spreading this idea that beauty is associated with being thin and having a perfect airbrushed complexion. Though there have been advancements with more integration of different body types in clothing campaigns and some magazine spreads we still have a long way to go. The I Weigh movement shifts the focus from putting value in your weight to instead seeing your value through what you have accomplished and are proud of. Because in the end, as Jameela puts it, you won’t be thinking about how much you weighed or how much cellulite you had you will be thinking about all your experiences, relationships and accomplishments.