*sits down with mug of tea* Social acceptance. Today I'd really love to address this as a global issue. It's something that, through the media, has become something that is comparable to a disease, or even a plague. It's spreading rapidly, infecting the lives of people on this planet. Those who can't find a cure are torn apart slowly and then discarded when the life is sucked out of them.
Because of the media, we look at ourselves differently. We aren't thin enough, we don't wear the right clothes, we aren't pretty enough, we don't have "that look". Ultimately, we aren't perfect enough. We are second best to celebrities, to models, and to anybody who is pretty and has their pictures plastered all over the media networks; magazines, newspapers, the interwebs, and television. We begin to take what these people have told us, and compare it to what we are and how we look. We begin to notice all of the little, miniscule issues and flaws on our bodies and we resent ourselves because we aren't meeting the standards of popular society.
Apparently she wasn't pretty when she walked through those doors and sat down. I mean, really. In comparison to the end result, she's not even close to perfection. NO, PEOPLE. "No wonder our perception of beauty is distorted."
I spent quite a bit of time just this morning debating with a friend about her beauty and about the means she's willing to take to become beautiful. She said that she just wanted a corset because, "They're pretty, and I don't have a waist anymore." Not only is she wanting to look perfect, she's willing to resort to some of the most unhealthy means, if it means a quick fix to her problem. What she doesn't see are the health risks connected to corsets. Seriously, please read this: Effects of tight lacing on the body.
"Medical texts published as early as 1897 documented potential risks including effects on the heart, lungs, circulation, breasts, stomach, liver, colon, uterus, muscles, gall bladder, and other organs. "
Are we really such shallow beings that we're going to resort to reshaping our entire body, seriously risking our health and comfort, for that perfect body?
Tight lacing can even lead to eating disorders, such as anorexia or bulimia and these disorders are something that are already so prevalent in our world today. It's so common that not knowing a person with one of these disorders is shockingly rare.
" Consider these statistics:
How can this not shock you, the reader, as much as it does me? "40 percent of American girls ages 9 and 10 report being or having been on a diet to lose weight." Oh my god, why is this okay, world?
"A study of Swiss women with eating disorders suggests that those who binge and purge are more likely to have attempted suicide in the past, regardless of whether they have been diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, bulimia or another eating disorder."
"The two-year study included 288 patients diagnosed with some form of eating disorder. Twenty-six percent of the women said they had attempted suicide at least once in the past, a rate than is four times higher than in the general female population of Western states, the researchers say. Also, about 26 percent of the patients said they were having current thoughts about suicide."
These poor people hate themselves. They hate their bodies, their skin, their face, their hair, their personality, and pretty much EVERY SINGLE THING ABOUT THEMSELVES. They take society's ideal beauty and they find that they can't meet those standards. They begin to starve themselves, self harm, and even consider ending their own lives because they aren't good enough, they aren't worth peoples' time because they aren't perfect, people supposedly love them less, and they hate themselves. And, as a world and as a society, we are okay with this.
Just a few days ago, I was scrolling through my tumblr dashboard, and I came across this:
Upon visiting the link, I found a post announcing this poor girl's resolution to kill herself. Part of this post was, "I hate myself. I’m a worthless, pathetic, ugly, not good enough, dumb girl. I’m a mistake and I don’t belong here."
I did what (hopefully) any good person would do and wrote her a long message in her ask box, telling her that she was beautiful, that she was worth it, and begging her not to kill herself. It was such a sad night, realizing that she was so convinced that she wasn't good enough that she was willing to take her own life, and that people around her were okay with this fact. Society as a whole is okay with this fact.
Reader, this is a bigger issue than is easily perceptible. Why? The people with these thoughts, with these disorders, with these suicidal thoughts and marks of self-harm, they keep them hidden. We have to actually take a closer look at people. We need to start caring. We need to take a stand against what society has deemed as perfect, or even acceptable.
Do you realize that over one million people die, worldwide, of suicide every year. Do you realize that the global suicide rate is 16 people per 100,000? Did you know that, on average, on person dies every 40 seconds from suicide? Did you know that global suicide rates have increased 60% in the past 45 years?
How about self-harm? Are you aware that three million Americans engage in some form of self-harm? How about the fact that the average self injurer begins at age fourteen and continues with increasing severity into his/her late twenties?
More often than not, suicides and self abuse are related to eating disorders, and the individual's idea that they aren't good enough. I'm not saying that they're all connected to the media's portrayal of beauty, but there is a vast number that are. People don't like their appearance. They can't change it, in most cases, and they begin to hate themselves. They begin to loath everything to do with their bodies and their personality. They feel that they aren't worth attention. They starve themselves. They cut or burn themselves. And some even take it so much to heart that they take their own lives.
This problem isn't something to be trifled with or taken lightly. It's something that needs to be addressed, very seriously and quickly. We need to stop this twisted, manipulative form of beauty. It's not real. It's a way to pull in revenue. The media attacks at a person's weakest point; their self esteem. They hit people at their lowest. But is it really to help a person be better? Or to make them feel better about themselves? No. It's for money. It's because we live in a selfish world, where money and appearance is the most important thing. As a global society, we don't care about people. We do not give a second glance to those who can't vault over the impossibly high bar of perfection. We cast people aside when we have no more use for them. We cause people to harm themselves, to take serious health risks, because we tell them that they aren't pretty enough, and therefore, useless.
Fact is, everybody has beauty within them. Fact is, this world doesn't care about it. Fact is, we need to stop this trend, and pick up one where people are appreciated and appreciate themselves for who they are.
Reader, please take this to heart. There are people who need help, there are people who feel like they aren't worth a glance, let alone a second. There are people out there, right now as you read this, who are comparing themselves to society's idea of perfection, and they arehating despising loathing themselves because they are unable to meet the standards of today's world. We, as a world, need to begin helping these people to see their own beauty. We need to help them love themselves; to help them help themselves; to help them look past social acceptance and accept themselves. Everybody has a place on this planet, and everyone is important. The saddest thing about this fact is that quite a few of us cannot see it.
Peace out.
Because of the media, we look at ourselves differently. We aren't thin enough, we don't wear the right clothes, we aren't pretty enough, we don't have "that look". Ultimately, we aren't perfect enough. We are second best to celebrities, to models, and to anybody who is pretty and has their pictures plastered all over the media networks; magazines, newspapers, the interwebs, and television. We begin to take what these people have told us, and compare it to what we are and how we look. We begin to notice all of the little, miniscule issues and flaws on our bodies and we resent ourselves because we aren't meeting the standards of popular society.
Basically, what we perceive as perfection isn't even real. We are being lied to and, in our own turns, lying to ourselves; telling ourselves that we aren't good enough, that we aren't beautiful, and that we aren't perfect.
Honestly, perfection isn't possible. Like the woman in the video, Jean Kilbourne, said, such perfection is only attainable through the means of Photoshop and other photo editing software. If it weren't for "Insta-thin" and airbrushing, these perfect people that we see, posed on the covers of magazines, wouldn't look like they are portrayed. They look nothing like what we see.
Take, for example, this woman.
I spent quite a bit of time just this morning debating with a friend about her beauty and about the means she's willing to take to become beautiful. She said that she just wanted a corset because, "They're pretty, and I don't have a waist anymore." Not only is she wanting to look perfect, she's willing to resort to some of the most unhealthy means, if it means a quick fix to her problem. What she doesn't see are the health risks connected to corsets. Seriously, please read this: Effects of tight lacing on the body.
"Medical texts published as early as 1897 documented potential risks including effects on the heart, lungs, circulation, breasts, stomach, liver, colon, uterus, muscles, gall bladder, and other organs. "
Are we really such shallow beings that we're going to resort to reshaping our entire body, seriously risking our health and comfort, for that perfect body?
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| DOES THIS LOOK RIGHT TO YOU?!? |
Tight lacing can even lead to eating disorders, such as anorexia or bulimia and these disorders are something that are already so prevalent in our world today. It's so common that not knowing a person with one of these disorders is shockingly rare.
" Consider these statistics:
- Among western women between 15 and 24 years old, approximately 1 out of every 200 suffers from anorexia nervosa, while about 1 in 50 is bulimic.
- Between 10 and 50 percent of American college women report having binge eaten and then vomited to control their weight.
- Approximately 40 percent of American girls ages 9 and 10 report being or having been on a diet to lose weight.
- Some 50 to 60 percent of teenage American girls believe they are overweight, yet only 15 to 20 percent of them actually are overweight.
How can this not shock you, the reader, as much as it does me? "40 percent of American girls ages 9 and 10 report being or having been on a diet to lose weight." Oh my god, why is this okay, world?
"A study of Swiss women with eating disorders suggests that those who binge and purge are more likely to have attempted suicide in the past, regardless of whether they have been diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, bulimia or another eating disorder."
"The two-year study included 288 patients diagnosed with some form of eating disorder. Twenty-six percent of the women said they had attempted suicide at least once in the past, a rate than is four times higher than in the general female population of Western states, the researchers say. Also, about 26 percent of the patients said they were having current thoughts about suicide."
These poor people hate themselves. They hate their bodies, their skin, their face, their hair, their personality, and pretty much EVERY SINGLE THING ABOUT THEMSELVES. They take society's ideal beauty and they find that they can't meet those standards. They begin to starve themselves, self harm, and even consider ending their own lives because they aren't good enough, they aren't worth peoples' time because they aren't perfect, people supposedly love them less, and they hate themselves. And, as a world and as a society, we are okay with this.
Just a few days ago, I was scrolling through my tumblr dashboard, and I came across this:
I did what (hopefully) any good person would do and wrote her a long message in her ask box, telling her that she was beautiful, that she was worth it, and begging her not to kill herself. It was such a sad night, realizing that she was so convinced that she wasn't good enough that she was willing to take her own life, and that people around her were okay with this fact. Society as a whole is okay with this fact.
Reader, this is a bigger issue than is easily perceptible. Why? The people with these thoughts, with these disorders, with these suicidal thoughts and marks of self-harm, they keep them hidden. We have to actually take a closer look at people. We need to start caring. We need to take a stand against what society has deemed as perfect, or even acceptable.
Do you realize that over one million people die, worldwide, of suicide every year. Do you realize that the global suicide rate is 16 people per 100,000? Did you know that, on average, on person dies every 40 seconds from suicide? Did you know that global suicide rates have increased 60% in the past 45 years?
How about self-harm? Are you aware that three million Americans engage in some form of self-harm? How about the fact that the average self injurer begins at age fourteen and continues with increasing severity into his/her late twenties?
More often than not, suicides and self abuse are related to eating disorders, and the individual's idea that they aren't good enough. I'm not saying that they're all connected to the media's portrayal of beauty, but there is a vast number that are. People don't like their appearance. They can't change it, in most cases, and they begin to hate themselves. They begin to loath everything to do with their bodies and their personality. They feel that they aren't worth attention. They starve themselves. They cut or burn themselves. And some even take it so much to heart that they take their own lives.
This problem isn't something to be trifled with or taken lightly. It's something that needs to be addressed, very seriously and quickly. We need to stop this twisted, manipulative form of beauty. It's not real. It's a way to pull in revenue. The media attacks at a person's weakest point; their self esteem. They hit people at their lowest. But is it really to help a person be better? Or to make them feel better about themselves? No. It's for money. It's because we live in a selfish world, where money and appearance is the most important thing. As a global society, we don't care about people. We do not give a second glance to those who can't vault over the impossibly high bar of perfection. We cast people aside when we have no more use for them. We cause people to harm themselves, to take serious health risks, because we tell them that they aren't pretty enough, and therefore, useless.
Fact is, everybody has beauty within them. Fact is, this world doesn't care about it. Fact is, we need to stop this trend, and pick up one where people are appreciated and appreciate themselves for who they are.
Reader, please take this to heart. There are people who need help, there are people who feel like they aren't worth a glance, let alone a second. There are people out there, right now as you read this, who are comparing themselves to society's idea of perfection, and they are
Peace out.
