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What Does It Mean to Be a Female in This Society?

How does society impact the perception of how females physically view themselves?

By Who Am I?Published 6 years ago 5 min read
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BODY IMAGE! SELF-ESTEEM! SHE'S TOO CONFIDENT! OH WAIT, NOW SHE'S TOO INSECURE! LOVE YOURSELF! BUT NOW SHE'S ACTING LIKE THE CENTRE OF ATTENTION!

Can we really win in today's society? I think the fuck not.

Who is to blame for the implanted ideals of how a woman should look and act in today's society! All of us? Magazines? Social media? The media itself? The list could go on. But let's talk about the pressure and struggles females face every day, because honestly...we do.

The world today is about perfect hair, perfect skin, the "Kardashian Body," what I like to call "an unrealistic image of beauty." Now I'm not saying it is not beautiful, I'm saying you don't need to look like that in order to be beautiful! Some of these ideals are genetically impossible for many of us to imitate. Then of course for men, it's the "6-pack and ripped abs perfect body," which usually is unachievable without the use of steroids anyway, but we can talk about that another time. Why are we told that these unattainable bodies are normal? Why are we told that that's what everyone wants to see? And why are we told that it is easily achievable? And when we can't live up to these standards, what happens? We feel a strong sense of dissatisfaction towards ourselves, we feel ugly, we hate our bodies, and so many more negative emotions that come along with that.

The media. Let us all agree on one thing. The media definitely has an impact on how some men want their women to be. An image is a manipulation, and it is used by the media to lighten/darken skin, shape bodies a certain way, and many more other things to create the perfect "female image." And we do see it in everyday life whether it be a poster we come across or a magazine we read or even the soaps that we watch, it does affect us whether we notice it or not. Have you ever noticed on social media how females are usually portraying themselves in a sexual way and men usually portraying themselves in a masculine type of way? Not all, but a vast majority. This is just a small amount of evidence of the pressure that the media puts on us today. And why is it that getting a substantial amount of likes on an image on social media feels like such a huge accomplishment for many people today? Is it a feeling of acceptance? But this constant need for validation can also affect us negatively. Comparisons with other peoples photo's, other peoples likes, that often causes us to feel negative about our own faces, our own bodies. I'm not saying social media is the cause of self-esteem, but it does have a huge contribution towards it. Why is it now that we are so uncomfortable to just... be ourselves!

Allow me to speak about prejudice for one second. Prejudice is an effective feeling towards somebody solely based on what "group they fit into." So when I say prejudice, what I'm saying is how society is prejudiced towards a person's body shape. In this society, being "slim" and toned is more associated with being hard-working, disciplined, more successful, and strong, whereas being "big-boned" is more associated with being lazy, powerless, demotivated, and lacking will-power. This annoys me because nobody's body shape should define the type of person they are. I would think in today's society, where so many more things are more socially accepted than they were 10–20 years ago that someone's body shape wouldn't be such a huge thing.

Do our friends and family affect the way we pursue ourselves? OF COURSE THEY DO. First of all, we learn from the people closest to us what things are considered as important, right? Right now I'm gonna go straight to the subject of friends. Why? Because most of us spend the majority of our free time with our friends. When you're around your friends so much you develop shared experiences, values, and beliefs and your perceptions of things are likely to be very similar. Have you ever looked at your friend and thought/said "I wish I had your stomach," "I hate my thighs, yours are so perfect," or something along those lines—honestly, I think we all have. This is because society has shaped us to feel like we are imperfect so we constantly compare ourselves to the people we are around, especially body comparisons. And with our friends, we will constantly compare ourselves, making ourselves feel negatively towards our own bodies. How we do change this? How do we learn to accept ourselves and accept that we are all perfectly imperfect and that there's nothing wrong with that at all?

Building a strong and positive body image. First, we need to understand that healthy bodies come in all shapes and sizes and physical appearance says very little about our characters and our value as a person! Getting to this stage is more dependent on a person's individual development and self-acceptance, but we should love and praise each other to help each other get to that stage, right? What else can we do? TALK BACK to the media. Media messages are "developed" and are not a portion of reality. So let's shout back and talk about or dissatisfaction about the focus on appearance and lack of size acceptance. And get rid of this "what I weigh matters mentality." Kilos on a scale don't tell you about your health as a whole. Focus more on what your eating habits and activity patterns are instead. Other things you can do are:

  • Appreciate your uniqueness. Don't try to change yourself for others.
  • Stop comparing yourself to others; feel comfortable within your own body.
  • Enjoy your body, go out swimming, dancing, or any activity you enjoy. Don't hide it, shake what your momma gave you.
  • Try to understand that self-esteem is based on happiness within ourselves and not our appearance. When you start to love yourself and feel good about yourself regardless, your self-esteem will automatically boost up!
  • Recognize that size prejudice is a form of discrimination similar to other forms of discrimination. Shape and size are not indicators of character, morality, intelligence, or success.

I feel like each and every one of us would have a positive body image when we have a realistic perception of our bodies. Let go of the negative conditioning and enjoy and accept ourselves as we are!

What do you think?

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About the Creator

Who Am I?

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