In the day and age we live in, we are constantly surrounded by the latest trends, new diets, and a million opinions. Here is a look at how the prevailing generation is trying to break these harmful sterotypes surrounding body image.
Beauty standards and stereotypes are constructed by the role models and brands we look upto. Unreasonable and unbelievable portfolios like skinny legs, no curves, and as clean as slate armpits are fed to the consumers. Pictures of celebrities on magazine covers are edited and altered on Photoshop so much so that they are not recognisable. Body shaming is rampant because we have been brought up with one notion of beauty. Tina Fey aptly defines that in her book Bossypants, as “every girl is expected to have Caucasian blue eyes, full Spanish lips, a classic button nose, hairless Asian skin with a California tan, a Jamaican dance hall ass, long Swedish legs, small Japanese feet, the abs of a lesbian gym owner, the hips of a nine-year-old boy, the arms of Michelle Obama, and doll tits.”
We, as the millennials and influencers of this generation, must support beauty in all forms, shapes and sizes. Jennifer Lawrence as a successful Hollywood actor, has vouched for healthy body image all throughout her career. Celebrities like Mindy Kaling and Adele have openly shunned people who judge their worth according to their figures. These insecurities are not restricted to the women. Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, and Robert Pattinson have come out with insecurities and troubles of maintaining a certain body weight dictated by the society. Even models like Tyra Banks, Ashley Graham, and singers like Demi Lovato, and Lorde also promote a positive body image. While judging modeling competitions, Ms. Banks and Ms. Graham advocate participants to eat well, and become fit in a healthy manner, to discourage the occurrence of eating disorders, that are actively associated with this profession.
Renowned personalities on Instagram, like Kelvin Daves, Morgan Mikenas, Keah Brown, Emily Bador, Aashna Bhagwani, Neelakshi Singh, and Rupi Kaur try to effectively empower people who are not confident in their own skins, through their messages and posts. In fact, Instagram pages like Eat the Cake, Proud2BMe, The Body Book, and Curve Inspire, shame everyday societal norms and stereotypes in comical ways to raise awareness.
Each life is important, each body is beautiful, and each soul is unique. We all deserve to be respected and loved the way we are. As someone who has suffered through an eating disorder, Demi Lovato remarks accurately, “I am not going to sacrifice my mental health to have a perfect body.”
Feature Image Credits: Radar Online
Prachi Mehra
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