Healthy Body Image

 

Photo credit Kalshassan.

(Me a few years back in my dancing prime)

      In teaching a 100-level class on mass media last fall, I was hit by the inevitable end-of-semester barrage of final papers on the topic of "the media's portrayal of body image." They could have come up with any topic they wanted, but lo, so many of them did not realize how mundane and overdone that topic has become. I was sick of hearing about my classmates writing about it when I was in school, so I'm definitely bored of it now.
      One thing it did make me think of though, was how we as Americans are fighting a war against epidemic-proportion obesity in adults and children, while at the same time demanding that plus-size women be as equally represented and glorified in the fashion and media industries as their size 0 counterparts.
      This January Washington Post article on the subject caught my eye: Robin Givhan zeroes in on debate over plus-size women in fashion. Post staff fashion writer Givhan says: 

"after a volley of exhausting complaining, defending, finger-pointing and declaring one's right to creative license, a new conundrum has presented itself: It's hard to even know what an acceptable-size model is supposed to look like anymore. How big is big enough? And when does plus size, in a profoundly overweight population, become just as distressingly unhealthy an image as emaciation?"

      She has come to the conclusion that "Somewhere between emaciation and obesity lies good health. And somewhere between those extremes there is also a definition of beauty that is inclusive, sound and honest." And this is about where I'm at. Shouldn't women and fashion/media critics be calling for a healthy body image to be represented instead of championing the size 16-and-up set?
      Waif-like models are most likely unhealthy, otherwise they would have some nature of muscle tone from regular exercise. While I do think bodies can come healthily in all shapes and sizes, someone wearing a size 18 is most likely not hitting the gym every day either. Metabolism and genes can play as much of a role in a woman's size as diet and exercise, and I do know people that just look like they were meant to be a certain size, be it size 2 or 12. To me, it's about people that look healthy, like the shape their body was created to make.
      So which is more of a problem, eating disorders or obesity? It doesn't really matter I guess since they are both problems that are in a large part shaped and influenced by fashion and media. "Be super-skinny like practically every famous actress, anchorwoman and model." *cut to commercial* "Drink lots of Coke to be happy and eat at McDonald's 'cause they're made of good stuff now." Those mixed messages alone are enough to create a case of bulimia.
      In the end I hope that girls are getting the bulk of their self-esteem and body image ideas from healthier sources, like family, sports or clubs. Could the problem be more in the breakdown of family values than the fault of the media? It's possible, but plenty of studies have shown connections between what we see in the media and our subsequent behavior. I'm not going to end this post by saying celebrate your size - you are woman - because that's not how I feel. Celebrate your beauty, yes, celebrate your family and friends. Work toward health. Attain a healthier body image by striving to exercise and eat well, not by staring at the scale or idolizing any size model.