The body image thing: Why it's bad for us
Aug. 11th, 2006 08:37 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
marionmashni.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
transEveryone has heard of the complaining about how the body image thing affects adolescent girls out there. Whenever this topic comes out, images of anorexic dieting, teasing and bullying, cosmetic surgery before 20 etc. come to mind. But unfortunately, nobody has asked the fundamental question yet - why is it wrong?
From my vantage point of 'being different from most of the rest of society; in the body image department, I can suggest one reason: it doesn't respect that bodies are different and they can be all beautiful. It's not just that they are treating the bodies like meat - the more disturbing thing is that bodies are compared to an ideal form and given a 'score' on how close it resembles that ideal form. But who gets to decide that what the ideal form is? That fact that it varies between times and cultures suggest that nobody can actually do this. Thus nobody has the right to say a certain kind of body is beautiful and others are not. We should be well aware of this and should avoid to have our beauty sensors tuned to be in unison with this stifling standard in the face of this. If everyone can do this, we would all see more beauty, and be more beautiful and be much more happier.
This 'standard beauty' thing has a very bad impact on our community too. The standard girl is quite different from most T-girls, and this fact can really get us down if we get bought by the myth of 'standard beauty'. T-girls are not considering if they are actually more beautiful or unique in what they've got and are too ready to give that up to look like the standard girl.
After all, who wants a 'standard beauty'? That's too boring. Give me a truly beautiful unique beauty!
Love and cheers,
Marion Mashni.
From my vantage point of 'being different from most of the rest of society; in the body image department, I can suggest one reason: it doesn't respect that bodies are different and they can be all beautiful. It's not just that they are treating the bodies like meat - the more disturbing thing is that bodies are compared to an ideal form and given a 'score' on how close it resembles that ideal form. But who gets to decide that what the ideal form is? That fact that it varies between times and cultures suggest that nobody can actually do this. Thus nobody has the right to say a certain kind of body is beautiful and others are not. We should be well aware of this and should avoid to have our beauty sensors tuned to be in unison with this stifling standard in the face of this. If everyone can do this, we would all see more beauty, and be more beautiful and be much more happier.
This 'standard beauty' thing has a very bad impact on our community too. The standard girl is quite different from most T-girls, and this fact can really get us down if we get bought by the myth of 'standard beauty'. T-girls are not considering if they are actually more beautiful or unique in what they've got and are too ready to give that up to look like the standard girl.
After all, who wants a 'standard beauty'? That's too boring. Give me a truly beautiful unique beauty!
Love and cheers,
Marion Mashni.