Women’s Bodies Go In and Out of Style, Let’s Talk About It.
Trigger warning: ED, Body Dysmorphia, Body insecurities
Be thin. Have an hourglass figure. Have a big butt. Our society brings women's bodies in and out of style. One day it will be attractive to look a certain way and the next a completely different body type will be in style.
The issue is that women's bodies aren't seen as human but rather a trend, to love and then throw away.
What I mean by this is women having different body types from one another isn't seen as something normal but rather something negative.
Women's bodies are so obsessed over and scrutinized that no matter what you look like, it's wrong.
There's a “body-positive” trend going around on social media comparing a picture of Marilyn Monroe, a woman known for her curves, to a picture of a thin model. Saying “how did we go from this to this?” And while shaming thin women isn't okay, the point of me bringing this up isn't to make that statement, it's to say answer the question. We went from loving Monroe's body to loving the thin model body by always keeping the idea that women can NEVER be pretty in the back of our minds.
Society will make curves a trend, and then as soon as curvy women are happy with their bodies, it will make being thin a trend again.
Women can't rely on what society views as attractive to measure their self worth or else they'll never win.
Because society's job isn't to make us love ourselves, but rather the opposite.
The makeup, hair, nails, and clothing industry all relies on people, specifically women disliking the way they look and wanting to do something to change it.
In a way, so many systems fail when women love themselves.
And although there is nothing wrong with altering your appearance. There is an issue when the motive for doing so has to do with public perception rather than personal desire.
Another way women can't catch up with societal expectations is the fact that it not only brings body types in and out of style but also makes new insecurities up on the daily.
From hip dips becoming a trend last summer to the current trend is taking videos of yourself “stargazing” to look at your jawline and profile. Aspects of our faces and bodies that we may have never even paid attention to in the past can become the center of how we view ourselves.
All bodies and faces are beautiful and worthy. The way we are supposed to look is based on a eurocentric patriarchal beauty standard that was designed to be unreachable. That's why body types go in and out of style and new insecurities and issues that we have regarding our bodies are invented every week. It's important to remember that basing your self-worth off of beauty standards is a losing battle.
