Body shaming is certainly nothing new. Women are constantly being told in various ways that their shape or size is not ‘right’. In the wake of Nicole Arbour’s (not so) ground-breaking ‘Dear Fat People’ video, this issue is clearly one that is not going away. I’d rather not dignify it with a link. It includes heavily witty material such as claiming fat people can’t run because they have large knees. Oh how I laughed.
Aside from being painfully unfunny, her words also perpetuate the warped idea that your body is not yours to do with what you want. Far from the ‘satire’ that Arbour later claimed it to be, it is a perfect example of the body shaming that we have come to expect from all aspects of the media. Instead of accepting the fact that humans do not come in one set size, shape or race, we have become obsessed with telling people that the way they look should change.
Similarly, it is not exclusively a problem for larger people. The phrase “Real Girls Have Curves” is not only an award winning film from 2002 but also a sentence that seems to be plastered over images of curvaceous women in sexy lingerie eating cream cakes (why are they always eating cream cakes?), telling us that to be considered ‘real’ you’ve got to have junk in your trunk. Once again, your worth as a woman is defined by your body shape – you literally do not even exist unless you have boobs that can pull smaller objects into orbit.
This pressure on women to look a certain way envelops pretty much all ad campaigns and products aimed at women today. Are you aging and have wrinkles to prove it? Goodness! You definitely need some face cream, you wizened old hag! These densely photo-shopped images that we see daily prove only one thing: the ‘perfect body’ has never and will never exist. What’s even more disheartening is the fact that we do not even acknowledge the emergence of this disturbing pattern.
It’s easier said than done, but all we need is a small change in attitude from the people that matter (i.e. YOU). Once we stop comparing ourselves to somebody else’s standards of beauty, then it is only a matter of time before the media catches on. I am not for one minute suggesting that the front cover of Heat will not have pictures of Jennifer Anniston’s cellulite adorning the front pages tomorrow because you didn’t want to use eyeliner this morning. Nor will you stop seeing articles about how long it is taking Kim K to lose her baby-weight because you chose flats instead of heels. The important part is to focus on just feeling good about yourself for every reason that you should- regardless of your ‘thigh brow’ situation.
I’d like to introduce a groundbreaking idea: girls, do whatever you like. If you don’t want to shave, then don’t. If you want to wear all the make-up that MAC can make, then do. The sooner we leave behind these ancient ideals of shaming women to conform to a certain look, whatever that look may be, the better.
Edited By Tia Ralhan
Image sources:
http://cupcakepedia.com/2013/03/17/pink-lingerie-blonde-with-flower-cupc…
http://zap2it.com/2015/09/dear-fat-people-video/
http://www.closeronline.co.uk/2015/09/how-to-get-a-thigh-brow-exercises-…