We can, at least in part, thank the skewed portrayal of women in the media and unrealistic cultural expectations for the resulting damage to women’s body image.
The images and articles reflect our cultural obsession with thinness, youthfulness, blonde hair, unblemished skin, and a hairless body.To make matters worse, the value and worth of a woman in the media seems to be equated with her willingness to reveal her body and make it accessible to men (or women). Is there any wonder that statistics consistently show that women are unhappy with their bodies?
A woman is not encouraged to appreciate her body for its own sake, rather she is encouraged to put it on display to gain male attention and appreciation. Consider the September edition of Cosmopolitan which gives women “50 Things to do with (Their) Boobs.” None of these things included appreciating her breasts for their inherent beauty, worth, and ability to nourish life. Instead, most of the things to do with “boobs” in this article required a male partner and involved sex. The message is not about empowering women to appreciate their breasts but in viewing their bodies from a male perspective to gain validation for their bodies—a potentially dangerous notion.
So is it any surprise that, instead of appreciating the inherent worth in the female body, not to mention her mind, personality, sense of humor or the myriad other things that make a woman truly beautiful, many women put their bodies on display in a desperate attempt to obtain male (or female, as the case may be) approval, validation, and self-worth.
And, we regularly demean the female body and its inherent strengths through sexist language: “you throw like a girl,” “you run like a girl,” referring to men as “girls” or “ladies” when intending to insult them, etc.
Too many women wish they looked like fashion models—a group of women who routinely take laxatives, are anorexic or bulimic, diet excessively, or use exercise addictively to maintain their skinny boyish figures. Not to mention that female models are routinely airbrushed and duct taped to maintain their skinny proportions, or should I say, disproportions?
And, let us not forget the women who so desperately strive for physical beauty that they mutilate their bodies with breast implants, tummy tucks, and a whole host of other surgical procedures (I’m not referring to meaningful and necessary surgery here) to become cartoon-versions of themselves. Is there anyone else out there who sees the absurdity in this disturbing trend?
These portrayals of women are a form of cultural and social abuse that seems to have a rampant effect on women, their body image, self-worth, and even their health.
In my practice, I observe women of all ages and backgrounds arrive in my office suffering from a wide range of health conditions, but the underlying battle to feel beautiful, desirable, and lovable unites them. I often feel that my role as a health practitioner is to help these beautiful women see themselves through new eyes and to forget the lies they’ve been told and observe daily in the media.
It seems to me that the healing path for women is, at least in part, a process of healing from the social abuses found in the misguided portrayal of “beauty,” unrealistic expectations.
The “synthetic woman” could be one of the few areas in society in which unnatural and synthetic is perceived as superior to natural. At least, that’s the impression the media and fashion-industry gives.
Isn’t it time to reassess these disturbing “standards” and “models” of women and recognize that our curves; variations in hair color, shape, and height; and even our blemishes, scars, and unique bodily features and proportions make us the uniquely beautiful women we are? It is our wrinkles, scars, variety, shape, and so-called “imperfections” that are exactly what make us perfect: they represent beautiful, real (not synthetic) women who have strength, experience, and wisdom.
Source: Wateen.net