BODY IMAGE

BODY IMAGE

By Frances Harris

Social media has some good points to it, a way to catch up, see beautiful pictures and a vehicle to dream and imagine.  Viewers can temporarily present as someone else if they aren’t satisfied with who they are. Winners on social media are expected to put their best foot forward and self-promotion or product promotion is the key. It becomes a problem when we and generations coming after us believe the spin.  The lines become blurred between fact and fiction but are presented to us as fact. A little like brain washing in a way. For developing minds, using social media has almost replaced the influence of mature adults for a child’s moral and personal compass. This is a daunting thought, depending on which stream they may decide to choose. The growing young mind is a very plastic organ which can be skewed in many ways with strong enough stimuli. And once the attitude is set in concrete, it’s difficult to change.

On a personal level, body image has become the new measure of self-worth. It determines who will be acceptable to marry and in extreme cases, can determine which people are acceptable to associate with. It is likely to influence future income and most of all, be the yardstick to measure the look of an acceptable friend, and what others might think of us. What a mountain of pressure to carry around on the shoulders! Is it any wonder a huge number of teens have considered suicide? Imagine wondering every day, - am I inside our outside the circle today? Guests may feel at every family gathering or social event, a sea of eyes of checking them out to see who has gained and extra milligram of weight since last time. Then when food is served, you see frightened committed people taking a micro serving of food, in case someone should catch them eating over the required calorie intake for the day. For me, I lived my life in a place where everyone is welcome to enjoy the food and a chance to engage in good conversation. I feel that the dimming of this concept is understandable when it is matched against potential income, but makes us all the poorer for it. Surely there is a way to find a balance.

Children watch their parents right from day one and carefully absorb their approach to life. When being super slim is more talked about in the home than being honest, caring and truthful, it bears some thought as to where we are aiming our future citizens. Our obsession with body image is cause for immense suffering. Those who can’t maintain the slim toned body, those who are showing a few signs of age and can’t maintain the momentum immediately fear their most valuable currency is slipping away, leaving them vulnerable. At the time of their life when they should be able to look back, appreciate the journey and reflect, they are stressed and preoccupied with maintaining a nearly unachievable body image. No matter what beauty products or body changing mechanisms are used, the truth is they doesn’t disguise age or attitude. Yes, the skin can be made smoother, teeth can be made pearlier, hair colour can be kept colourful, and promote the illusion of youthfulness, but the image is often only present only in the recipient’s thoughts. If we can’t accept that the body changes, there is surely a lot of pain ahead.  

Every time we log into social media, how often do you see a person with a regular body shape? Photo shop and air brushing can do wonders for the blemish or imperfect shape, but it is not a measure of reality. The pressure on us has become enormous. What’s wrong with a healthy body shape that suits our frame and height? With so many normal people and especially children being taken out of the equation of what is normal, is it any wonder that nearly one in four teens are showing signs of mental illness. This is energy taken away from achieving their life goals and put into something gruelling and unachievable. The madness is not with the children or the teens; it is with the adults and our willingness to promote the fairy tale. Remember Marylyn Munroe and her alluring beauty? It had little to do with calories. So what if we continue on this hazy path our future citizens and leaders are being encouraged to take? I don’t dare the guess.