Be Ashamed to Shame
Most people these days slam magazines and the fashion industry for depicting the perfectly unattainable body. All too quickly we pass the buck and tell everyone its not our fault, that we are being drowned by that falsity of the media and we can’t be blamed for our own body perceptions.
But have you ever really stopped to
think about your own actions? Have you ever stopped to consider that people are
willing to actively body shame others? That not only does the media show us
these perfect images, but that we take them on board, we embody them and splurt
them out whenever we think its ok to do so. Yet really, it is never ok to do
this. It’s never ok to tell someone they’re too skinny or too fat or that
they’re ugly and you’re not. It’s never ok to say you’re better than someone
because of your acne-free skin or your silky smooth legs.
We blame the media yet we fail to
realise the issue resonates within us. We are the ones transcending the
messages created by the media. We share the memes making funny of people because
of their weight, their looks. We have become enslaved to the power of social
media, because we think we can remain anonymous behind a screen, on the other
side of which someone is crying because of the hurt, the embarrassment,
everything you have made them feel because of the spiteful words you have
shared so flippantly.
Why do we find it funny? As a society
we find it funny to ridicule others in that way. We are sick. Utterly sick,
rotting inside.
Personally, I don’t believe in the
concept of perfection. It’s never attainable and works so subjectively; it is
impossible to have any objective sense of perfection. Yet so many people seem
to think that looking a certain way makes you perfect. Why should we have to
care what other people think about us? Why should be have to care about
reaching these unattainable standards that society imposes upon us? We
shouldn’t.
I recently came across some pictures
online commending Chrissy Teigen (wife of John Legend) sharing a picture in
which her stretch marks are visible. How is it, that in a society that knows
how to code the software of an iPhone, we find it so incredible for someone to
share their stretch marks? A naturally occurring process is more astonishing to us than the intelligence of a coder.
I appreciate that nowadays, society is
beginning to change its attitude towards the diversity of body shapes and
looks, but sometimes I feel like we are living in the stone age… but even then
they probably didn’t have to worry about what people would say about their
body!
We are obsessed with the picture of a
perfect body and when we see celebrities walking the red carpet, we praise them
for their excellent looks and their ‘killer body’ and the second they’re seen
walking to a corner store in their hoody and jeans, just like so many of us do,
we feel the need to call them out on it. As though they can’t be people. When
did we start dehumanising celebrities? How is it that we can slam the media for
showing us these ‘perfect’ images yet when we see the not-so-perfect pictures
we scream and shout because apparently celebrities are no longer humans but are
some sort of glass figurines that never need more than a quick polish.
I am sick and tired of people
asserting their body ideals against other people. Everyone is human and everyone is
unique. Why can’t we accept that? Why can’t we appreciate diversity amongst us
rather than shutting it down and pushing it away?
Beauty comes in all different sizes,
shapes and colours. Let’s embrace ourselves for
whatever we are.
The internet is broken and it’s time
we fixed it.
All Love xoxo
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