Body Issues

You may have noticed from my past few blog posts that I haven't been having the best few months and that can also be shown on the scales. This month I've gained half a stone and, to be honest, I'm actually freaking out by it and I hate that I'm thinking like that. If I know that everyone is beautiful no matter what shape or size, why don't I think that about myself? 

This week I saw an article about Frankie Sandford from The Saturdays about how she's put on weight from a size 8 to a size 10. This article was extremely negative about this weight gain, saying things like "apparently she's happy about the weight she's gained." Well, if she's happy, then why should we care? And why is it that a female's weight is part of the news?! The article ended with a slide show filled with celebrities that had lost weight and were obviously very unhealthy, however, they were saying how amazing they looked. Really we should be encouraging people to be a healthy weight. Being 'skinny' does not mean they are fit or healthy. That's what people need to realise. 

It depresses me that because these females are in the limelight they feel that they must lose weight. Everyone is different. We are encouraged at a young age to think differently, have our own ideas about things, however, why when we grow up is it not the same? Society has forced us into thinking one way is the best way and sadly weight is one of the major factors. Designer 
Caroline Castigliano has been working in fashion for two decades and in her London Fashion Week show, of this year, she couldn't find 8 models that were of a healthy weight. Most designers don't even care about this, so when girls of my age or younger see these images, we think it is the norm. 

In a Sociology lesson that I had the other week we looked through a number of magazines all for different ages. For every single female magazine it mentioned something about dieting, even the children's magazines. This made me realise how much of a problem this is and it wasn't until recently that I realised that it was also a problem for me. I can admit that I am overweight, I know my BMI, however, if I do lose weight, it's for myself. It's to get healthy. It's not for anyone else. Which is why I appreciated Frankie Sandford for telling everyone she gained weight for herself and because she wanted to be healthy. Girls need good role models in their lives and we need to stick together to make a difference because recently, I have felt that feminism has been going backwards.

Actions speak louder then words. Which is why I know writing a blog post about this won't do much, however, every little bit counts. Read some magazines and get noticing these things. Send complaints to editors or tv programme studios and let's start making a difference! You never know, you could be the next Gloria Steinem.

 

This is an image of the model Karlie Kloss that was published

in a Japanese magazine. 

Dove did a campaign to make people aware of the power of photoshop.

 

However, it is not just women who have body issues.