A question to all the women out there: when was the last time you rejoiced at walking into the dressing room?
My own experience tends toward one of stomach clenching and hyperventilation. According to a recent poll taken by Fitness Magazine, I’m not the only one.
88% of the 1,001 women polled commented that shopping causes them to reevaluate their entire body, most picking on their waist.
40% started working out right after walking out of that store and 20% actually kept the routine going.
How focused is society on the view of women and their bodies that 15% of women break down in the dressing room and call their friends for advice? It’s a tough subject to tackle because for many people there’s a fine line between unconditionally loving your body and admitting that, heath-wise, it’s time to make a change. Albeit, that change should come from a desire to better one’s life, not a need to purge a guilty shameful feeling.
Several aspects of society have been repeatedly targeting for placing this pressure on women to feel shameful about the way they look, most of all the media. A study done in Fiji in the late 1990s demonstrates just how much affect that pressure has on women.
Up until 1995, the island had no TVs. Women were praised for having strong robust figures. Thirty-six months after TVs were introduced, playing only one station with shows from the USA, UK, and New Zealand, 74% of girls polled thought they were too big or too fat; anorexia nervosa and bulimia had swept across the island.
The media isn’t the only culprit to blame for the way women view their bodies. Which makes it all the more difficult to alter society’s stance in the issue; who or what do you target? How do you persuade those needing to make a healthy change in their lifestyle without insinuating or arousing guilt and shame?
In my experience helping people restructure their lives in a more health oriented way, those that are best able to maintain their new habits are those that keep the focus of their changes on the reduction of risks for degenerative disease. The body image follows the lifestyle and loving your body comes with knowing you’re honestly doing right by it.
What healthy motivations keep you caring about your body?
what we should really be feeling shameful about is how much shopping we do. Why not save some money, and stop living on credit, every time you buy that next pair of shoes you are borrowing money if you have debt, and putting yourself in further debt.
To fix how we feel about our bodies, well…you can either listen to the media, oryou can listen to yourself and be your own person, remembering that we are lucky to each day, and being thin in 3rd world countries is not a goal.
Being happy with your body is important. I really enjoyed the illustrations on your site! Keep up the good work, it looks great!
It’s quite sad that so many women feel that way. We’re programmed to think that our bodies need to look good for the clothes, as opposed to learning how to find the right clothes for our ‘right’ bodies. We’re not all meant to be size 4 or less.
Feeling good about one’s body isn’t just about liking how it looks. It’s important that we actually listen to our bodies too. When you don’t take care of your body, you likely experience fatigue, digestive problems, weakness, and other problems. In an ideal world, I suppose those should be the reasons to take care of our bodies.
I absolutely agree, Clarissa! Thanks for your comment!