Imperfect

(Source: crossmyheart1991)

internal-acceptance-movement:

REASONS WHY THINSPIRATION ISN’T SO INSPIRATIONAL:

1. It makes you feel worse about yourself.

The only thing images of seemingly “perfect bodies” inspire is body shame. Thinspiration compels us to judge, criticize, and pick apart our own bodies because they “don’t measure up”. It triggers anxiety, depression, and self-hatred. And it makes us feel worthless and inadequate.

If you’re looking to feel better about your body or inspire yourself to take better care of it, looking at thinspiration is not the answer. Body inspiration isn’t about changing yourself to emulate a socially constructed standard of beauty. It’s about accepting and embracing the body you have been given. 

You find inspiration when you take the focus off of your body size and weight, and start putting it on all the wonderful things your body can do for you. You find body inspiration when you recognize that the way you feel about your body has less to do with your actual weight and appearance and more to do with how you feel about who you are as a person. When you can learn to love and accept yourself for who you are, regardless of your flaws and imperfections, you will be able to love and accept your body, regardless of it’s size.

2. It puts you into comparison mode.

Comparing your body with those found in thinspirational images does nothing but damage your self-esteem. It doesn’t inspire you—it beats you down, makes you feel inadequate, and keeps you stuck.

Whether or not you “measure up” to someone else is not an accurate basis of your self-worth because your value isn’t something that can be discounted based on another person’s appearance or performance. It’s something inherent. As a living, breathing, feeling, human being, you have intrinsic value.  

There will always be someone who weighs more than you or less than you. There will always be someone who is more toned or less toned than you. There will always be someone more well-liked or less well-liked than you. And there will always be someone who finds you more conventionally beautiful or less attractive than someone else. But there will never be another you.

No one who has your same smile or laugh. No one who has the same constellation of freckles decorating their body. No one who gives a hug or shares a kiss the way you do. No one who carries the same bends and curves on their body. No one who carries themselves with your same walk or speaks their truth with your same voice. 

You are one of a kind. Your unique qualities and physical features aren’t something to be ashamed of or beat yourself up for. They’re something to celebrate. 

3. It advocates unrealistic standards of beauty.

The majority of thinspirational images portray the bodies of models, athletes, and celebrities—people who are paid to be physically fit and visually appealing. These are people who spend their lives training in the gym, work daily with a personal trainer, and have the monetary means to employ a stylist and makeup artist to help them look presentable and attractive at all times.

Most people outside of those occupations don’t have the time or money to dedicate towards doing what is necessary to obtain and maintain those body types and appearances. Striving to emulate the bodies of people who achieve their “seemingly perfect physique” in order to make a living is an unrealistic and unhealthy goal—one that always leaves you feeling incapable and inadequate.

In many cases, these same images are photoshopped, retouched, and recolored to produce an even more unobtainable standard of beauty. Trying to compete with bodies that have been digitally altered to perfection is impossible.

Regardless of the person’s occupation or whether or not a photo has been retouched, the problem with thinspiration is that it promotes the idea that there is only one body type worthy of acceptance: skinny. The reality however, is that bodies come in all different shapes and sizes—all of which are beautiful. No one body is better or worse than any other—they’re just different. And it’s that differentness that adds to our beauty and the diversity of human bodies.

4. It makes us hate on other people’s bodies.

Thinspiration not only fuels judgement against our own bodies, but it also causes us to negatively judge the bodies of others. When we create standards for what is deemed beautiful and socially acceptable for ourselves, we simultaneously create those standards for others and their bodies. The judgement may be subconscious and unintentional, but it’s definitely there.

Any type of photograph or message that advocates a “thin ideal” is dangerous because by praising certain body types, we end up condemning others. Body-shaming, whether it’s directed at you or someone else, doesn’t help anyone and it certainly isn’t inspirational. 

Therefore, the liberation of society as a whole from unrealistic standards of beauty and body judgement starts by redefining our own definition of beautiful. When we can treat our bodies with compassion and kindness, when we can see them as vehicles of empowerment and beauty rather than objects of shame and exploitation, and when we can abandon our rules and embrace who we are without conditions, we make it okay for others to do the same. When we stop judging our own bodies, we stop judging the bodies of others. 

6. It disregards health. 

You can’t tell the degree of someone’s health by looking at their body because body size does not determine health. Unfortunately, the majority of thinspirational images showcase the bodies of women, who in many cases, have achieved their body size and appearance through unhealthy means. 

It’s important to remember that thinness is not synonymous with health. Being thin doesn’t mean you can’t be healthy, but it certainly isn’t the deciding factor. In the same regard, having body fat, cellulite, or ranking high on the BMI scale does qualify someone as unhealthy.  

In truth, health is less about what you look like and how you weigh and more about how you treat your body. Being healthy means adequately nourishing your mind, body, and soul. It means listening to your body’s internal cues and giving yourself permission to taste and eat things you enjoy. It means exercising in a way that feels good to your body, and it means resting when you’re tired. It means treating your body with compassion and kindness, and it means treating it as a friend.

Being healthy does not mean abusing, neglecting, starving, stuffing, or harming your body. And it certainly doesn’t mean engaging in unhealthy behaviors in order to achieve the “thin ideal”. 

7. It makes you focus on the wrong things.

Thinspiration sends us the message that the way we look is more important than who we are. It enforces the idea that if we want to be loved, accepted, beautiful, and sought after, we have to be thin. And it perpetuates the belief that being anything less than perfect makes us inadequate, incapable, unloveable, and a failure. 

The reality however, is that you are so much more than your weight. You’re a soul and spirit. You’re a force of compassion and kindness and creativity. And you’re a channel of energy and light and love. 

You’re not defined by the size of your body, but by the size of your heart. You’re not defined by your weight on the scale, but by the weight of your words and your impact on others. You’re not defined by the number of pounds you carry, but by the number of times you pick yourself back up after you fall. You’re not defined by your capacity to exercise, but by your capacity to love and dream and learn and grow. 

Your body size is such a small part of who you are. It does NOT have the power to discount your worth. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever. 

(via i-am-ambivalent)

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