Body shaming in modern culture unacceptable

Sonia Manly, Video Production

Are we all facing the same pressures to have a perfect body?

 

There are many pressures that people of our society face from day to day. While most people think that these pressures only apply to girls, many of them fall onto boys as well. Even though the pressures may seem as though they are different, a lot of the problems tend to be the same for all genders. Like girls, boys struggle with the societal expectation to be “fit” based on the image that are put on the front for them in the media. These include, but are not limited to,having a six pack or a toned body and having perfect teeth.

Many boys believe that they have to match the newspaper and magazine articles to impress people with their looks. The society that we live in constantly puts pressure on people to fit into a perfect mold, to look like the models that are in Calvin Klein or Sports Illustrated. These images make modern teenagers feel like they have to fit the body types of these celebrities and athletes. Most people never take into consideration the fact that most of the pictures that we see on magazines and on TV are photoshopped to look more appealing to the human eye.

Based on these images, we subconsciously judge our peers and want them to fit in the box that society has put them in. When looking for a partner we analyze people’s facial features and body structure in order to find the “perfect” match for ourselves. If we see a flaw in the person that we are looking at we will automatically find them less attractive. We all desire to find our “perfect” match in life, and that is largely based on the physical appearances.

With this in mind we tend to correct ourselves to fit into the “perfect” mold, and that can be very dangerous not only to us but to others. Even though some people seem comfortable and confident with themselves there is a good chance that they don’t feel that way in real life. With society pushing us to fit this perfect mold and look a certain way, we tend to put a lot of unnecessary pressures on ourselves to make sure that we are “perfect.”

Despite the trend of body shaming that occurs in our society, we are beginning to see a change. Many people are beginning to accept people who have different body types, decreasing this trend, from plus size models to people being more confident in their own skin. When people are more confident in their skin they tend to have a better outlook on life and that can make others more confident in themselves. The only way to stop this trend of body shaming from continuing is to build a society that is more accepting and diverse in body types and colors to inspire the new generation to be more confident in themselves.