Society and Body Images

We had a poll at our school. 95% of girls said that they were unhappy with their weight and felt pressured by models in magazine's. I was the other 5%.

 

It really is.

It's definetly not as effecting of females. I do see it sometimes with guys though. If you don't have rockin abs or cut arms. I know I have issues about wieght. I never feel I'm a small enough size. That may be do to being overweight as a kid. Not really sure. I think plus size models are changing that though. Hopefully society can stop shaming people of both body extremes. Really skinny girls get it to.

 

I have a friend that is like freaking 90 pounds and she thinks she's fat. Shit's messed up yo

Although as far as models go those aren't like goverment-owned or anything so that's there business I guess, who they hire and what they do. They should probably put more thought into the effect it has though.

 

It's money. Companies hire the models that sell, society's been brainwashed to buy the skinny models>"plus size" models, therefore, the skinny models get booked. Thankfully, at least in Canada, I noticed a lot of chain stores with disclaimers in the windows and magazines saying their models were untouched and the mannequins were real sizes. If you've ever seen a normal mannequin naked, you know that their proportions are about the same as Barbie.

This issue honestly drives me nuts. :bang:

 

Yes, it is sad. But lets not forget that it's engineered, not naturally occurring.

 

Yes, it's certainly f*cked up.

As for thigh gaps, some people aren't able to get them unless they starve themselves to just skin and bones.

I'm 5'9 and usually a size 2 or 4 depending on the clothing. I've struggled with body image and eating disorders (still do, but not to the extent I used to). Thing is, I know I'm not fat. When I look in the mirror, I see a fairly slim girl. People have often said that they're jealous of my body. The problem is that no matter how skinny I am, I will always focus on that inch of fat somewhere on my body.

You know what doesn't help with these issues? These comparisons between what the perfect female body is to men and to women. They show the ideal according to men as having a bit more fat, while the women's ideal is skinnier. That might help straight women, but not me.

 

I know how you feel...

in my pre-adolescent years I was really obese and I' get bullied almost everyday at school for it. when I was done falling apart and eating to the feel the void, I decided to give them what they wanted and try to get skinny. I shed a lot of weight, there would be days where I wouldn't eat nothing more than an apple. but once I reached an healthy weight, it still wasn't enough for them.

so, eventually, I got tired of trying to prove myself. my size or body does not define me! and yeah, it would be great to have candice swanepoel's body or nina agdal's, but I don't... so there's no point on crying myself to sleep over that.

and I'm glad that some companies are trying o make the transition to plus-sized models. I mean, once I saw Tara Lynn on the cover of Vogue Italia, it made sooo happy!!!

at the end of the day, we can't all be naturally skinny, we just have to learn to love our body. ^^

 

Possibly, but most of the women questioned will be straight. If men's answers are based off the body they find most sexually attractive, then gay women might say the same thing.

 

If you don't take care of your body, and that's why it looks unappealing, that's one thing. But to just be who you are, and not perceived as ideally beautiful or appealing, that's another.

I'll admit, in my past, when I was still embracing my negative traits, I'd use a woman's body image to get what I wanted; whether that was for them to back off, or to serve some pawn-like purpose. It was just too easy to do, especially when you noticed, what they covered up or accentuated, in their styles. However, because of those experiences, I learned, just how universal this is.

Nowadays, I don't mind going a little out of my way, to let somebody know, that they're fine. Provided that person isn't intentionally destroying their bodies, I'll be sure to compliment somebody. Men or women, because both, in their own ways, are subjected to the ideal body-look.

It's already hard enough, living, why the fuck would anybody want to make it harder? But, this is exactly what the beauty industrial complex wants, and is precisely what fuels it, to continue existing.

Being transgender, this is a double-edged sword. Biologically, I'm a male. So, to most people, I am a male. I'm subject to the ideal embodiment of manliness, just like most men, because of this. I couldn't pass as a woman, as of right now, either, and because of this, it makes the woman inside feel horrible, and even ugly. I'm hit on two fronts, and compacted between both sides. Nobody wants to be ugly, or to feel like they are, yet, humanity often does just this, to one another. It really doesn't help, that people cling to idealized perceptions, of what it means to be this or that, male or female, good or bad, instead of formulating, then following, their own perceptions. Those who do, I thank them, though.

Last but not least, if there is something there, in someone, then I will find beauty, in someone. And when I find that, it will flow out from within, and coat the individual. At that point, they will be beautiful to me, because they now have their sense of pride and source of love.

I want more people to know this, and to believe, they can be cherished.

 

I feel really ugly. I have put on 20 pounds in the past year due to the depression meds I have been on as well as my beta blocker. I weigh 218 and am 5'11" and suffer from sores on my skin on my legs and upper back. That's in addition to my dizziness and heart palpitations.

I just feel so alone. It has really hit me this year. I refuse to be alone all my life.

I love everyone in my men's group, but one of the co-facilitators makes it seem so easy to meet guys. He has a good personality, but he's a bigger guy and apparently has 2 boyfriends. "Where do you meet guys" I ask. "Everywhere", he says. I don't get it. :rolleyes: Michigan is certainly not rolling in out gay/bi people. I don't want to be punched in the face by a straight guy due to faulty gaydar.

I really hate the whole bar scene. I don't drink and really don't care to meet drinkers.

I realize that this is my first year being out, but I feel like poison most of the time. Most guys won't give me a second look.

 

THIS!!!

Those stereotypes about beauty in the media are sustaining a whole industry, so they'll be there for a long time. However as girls grow up they usually realize that what (a lot of cis) men find attractive are not models, but healthy women with that sweet extra of flesh, like
http://www.americanartarchives.com/moore50jun.jpg
NOT like
http://p.models.com/-72281/images/T200_image2595.jpg

I think that it's neccesary to talk about anorexia at school, I really do, and also offer the students a health check every year. It doesn't take much time and resources, and it would do a lot of good.

What Kaiser said about being trans is very true. To me it felt like being forced to try to look like
http://morethanapastor.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/tumblr_m4zwleYsxM1qiohboo1_1280.jpg
while wishing I could be like
http://www.malecelebnews.com/wp-content/images/2012/10/Rob-Wilson-first-Price-is-Right-male-model-11.jpg

 

I've always been overweight and it's really taken a toll on me. In my head I keep thinking that I have to lose weight in order to find love but my friends tell me that I shouldn't have to change.. that's just it though. I shouldn't have to change but in this world, being my size is unattractive. Not a day goes by that I don't hear something negative about my body image. No, not everything has to be said. You see it through people's eyes. The stares. The giggling. The comments made under their breath. It's gotten to the point where someone laughing around me in public automatically makes me think that they're laughing at me.

When I think about being thin, I don't think about being thin like a supermodel. I'll never be that thin, even if I lost all my weight. My body shape wouldn't allow it. I think about the girls on Rupaul's Drag Race. How pretty they are. How they're born male and I keep thinking that it's not fair. I keep thinking about how unfair it is to be judged by an eating disorder I've had since I was a child. If an anorexic was caught or a bulimic was caught, they would be taken to a doctor. They would be looked at and they would get help. People that I know and love see me and people like me and we're just on our own.

I don't think anyone realizes how hard it is to stop. I try every day, every week, every month and I always find myself walking back to the store and getting something, finding some excuse. I've even thought about my reputation at this store I usually go to. They know who I am and they know why I'm there. I wish that I could just stop and never think about it again. Just live off of better foods and have the energy to get up and exercise. I really wish I could do that. I really wish I was beautiful and amazing and then maybe people would like me more. Maybe I would find someone and not be afraid to like them. Maybe I could express how I feel for them instead of doubting myself and trying to erase any kind of feeling because of the rejection. I know why they reject me. It's because they're afraid that if they thank me, I would continue trying to get with them. And they're right, because I want to be loved.

 

The pressures society puts on people make me really sad.

Personally, instead of feeling "too fat" (like most people have said here), I feel too skinny and I hate it. People always tell me they're jealous that I'm so skinny and that I can eat anything I want without gaining weight. But the truth is, I hate being so skinny! I wish my ribs weren't visible and I wish I wasn't so bony and I wish I had boobs and a nice butt. Am I alone here?

Anyway just on a side note: thigh gaps do not depend on how skinny you are. Thigh gaps simply depend on how wide your hips are.

 

You're not alone, this was me until recently. It's only now over the last couple of years I'm starting to successfully put weight on and for the first time in my life I don't get nasty comments about it. In my case my dislike of being thin was more to do with the impracticality and all the problems it causes or exacerbates in terms of my physical health issues, as well as the antagonism of being perceived as weak and fragile, rather than caring about image/attractiveness in the eyes of others.

 

Society definitely influences the ideal body image for men and women. Men need to be muscular, clean shaven, and well endowed. Women need to be thin, big breasted, and perfect hair. Too many can't fit this. But that why its ideal, not average. However, it definitely affects people.