| Friday, October 5, 2012 |
| Friday Fodder - Enough of the Body Image Wars |
You know, I want my Friday Fodder to be fun, but there is something that is just eating me up these days and I have to get it off my chest, then I can move on. I hate saying it, but it's the body image wars. No, I'm not talking about how I feel about me and how I look. For the first time in my life, I'm ok with me. Sure, I'm not perfect and I have limitations, but I'm ok with that. The body image wars I'm talking about are the ones that people are fighting with each other.
Are you tall enough?
Are you "skinny"(<---most despised word ever) enough?
Are you full figured enough?
Are you muscular enough?
Are you fast enough?
This topic has irritated me before and I wrote about it here, but lately I've seen it popping up on Facebook again and then the Jennifer Livingston video popped up yesterday. Well, I am tired of it. I happen to love social media (mostly blogging and Facebook...I still need help with twitter, but I'm trying), however, the best way to get me to hide you from my feed is to talk about what physique is considered sexier than another. It's passive aggressive judgement when you hide behind a computer and make comments like that against another person based on looks. We are not what we look like and just because you type words on a computer, doesn't make them any less hurtful than if you said them to someone's face! If you like something someone else says or posts on Facebook, you do know other people can see it, right?
I work in the health/fitness industry, so I get the opportunity to meet and work with amazingly inspirational people! The best things I've learned since working in this field are that compassion, understanding and positive words can help someone else see how amazing they really are. None of us are perfect. We have genetics to deal with. We have stress to deal with. We have free will to deal with. Let's be honest, most of us weren't dealt the perfect hand at birth. Nobody needs to feel like less of a person because they don't fit into a mold that somebody else has deemed perfect.
I have two growing boys that I worry about everyday when they leave the house for school. We breed what we are and I'm seriously scared of what some people are teaching their children. We, as adults, have a responsibility to each other and our children to teach understanding, compassion and love for others without judgement of our outward appearances.
On a positive note, I want to give a HUGE shout out to Team Sutera and Heather (and her sister) who are running the Chicago Marathon this weekend! I have watched you all train and I am in awe over the passion and perseverance you have demonstrated. I hope it's an incredible event for you all!
I hope everyone else enjoys a beautiful fall weekend!Labels: about me |
posted by Sarena Shasteen - The Non-Dairy Queen @ 6:00 AM  |
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| 15 Comments: |
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yes!! so sick of it. like as sick of it as i am with politics. ugh.
on a happy note GO JESS AND SCOTT AND HEATHER!!
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Totally agree! I never thought of it as 'passive aggressive,' but that hits the nail on the head.
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seriously - I think that our techno world, our disconnectedness makes it all to easy to just be flat out horrible. You'd almost never say something like that to someone's face. But people hide behind computers, emails, tweets. There was something I actually read in Grad School talking about the changing rhetoric based being so disconnected from others.
All you can do, as a parent, is try to set the right examples, help guide them in the right direction
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a-freaking men!!!! I completely agree. And I personally have struggled with body image wars with myself and it is downright exhausting. It feels so refreshing and good to just feel GOOD about myself and not be comparing and hating. Thank you for posting this! And good luck Suteras and Heather of course!! :)
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BRAVO, girl!
I wholeheartedly agree. and I'm going to use a Jerry Springer phrase "you don't know me!!" - one should not judge regardless, but certainly not on looks alone, without knowing the who what why. even then, just stop!
and the people who hide behind the internet anonymity? incredibly lame.
woo HOO for the runners, sherpa sherpa sherpa!!
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I have two things to say.
1) AMEN AMEN AMEN couldn't have said it better myself. AWESOME post.
2) THANK YOU #runsherpa friend!! Team Sutera is ready to do you proud!!
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I could not have said it better myself. I agree with you friend. Thanks for speaking up and sharing your feelings today. You're not alone at all. I'm scared to death for my daughter to ever feel not good enough. She looks in the mirror and loves what she sees, but I know soon she will be obsessed with someone else's concept of beauty. Scott and I cross our fingers and hope we have planted a positive seed of beauty and body image. And as our son grows, we also plan to reinforce these same notions of self and acceptance and to be accepting of others.
A FANTASTIC documentary is Miss Representation. Here's a link to the trailer: http://vimeo.com/28066212
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Funny-- I'm talking about this next week in my classes. We've always done a unit on body image and the media/advertising, but I think I'll ask them about how they think social networking sites have influenced this as well, particularly in the last two or three years. I see those "pro-ana" tags on Instagram and just feel so sad about raising a girl in our society. Sighghghgh. :-)
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I absolutely agree with you. Our society has this image of the perfect body and I don't think that that is right. I once took a class in college called "Sex Talk" and for a semester we talked about how men and women are portrayed in the media in looks, attitude, and stereotypes. Your post really reminded me of this class. Every person is unique in their own way, and we all as a society should respect that!
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You get a BIG OL' Co-sign from me, sister!
And YES! Congrats to Jess & Heather :) So proud of 'em!
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Thanks for pointing out this issue. What an ignorant man to send that letter to a lady. He does not have the authority to determine how public figures should look like, only them have the choice to decide how they want to live their lives. I bet this man does not write letters to all the anorexic models that are walking on the runway shows or all the designers that have sizes 0 for their sample sizes.
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Sarena- I love this. Thanks for getting it off your chest. I get so nervous thinking about what my boys are going to have to deal with soon. Some people are so judgmental and mean. It's just not okay. I wish we could all protect each other from everything.
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FYI NEDA is launching a body image challenge soon that you should participate in!!! http://proud2bme.org/3daychallenge
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Sarena Shasteen - The Non-Dairy Queen
Home: Atlanta, GA, United States
About Me: Lactose Challenged
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yes!! so sick of it. like as sick of it as i am with politics. ugh.
on a happy note GO JESS AND SCOTT AND HEATHER!!