In this post I'm going to share some of the facts about the "beauty industry" and my opinion on this ever-growing cultural issue.
Statistically speaking, the average runway model is 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs about 110 pounds. The average American woman is 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighs about 147 pounds. Quite the striking difference, isn't it? Most of these models are on strict diets and rigorous workout schedules to maintain these nearly impossible numbers. It's unfair to compare ourselves to other women who have completely different body chemistry than we do.
I am tall, a little over 5 feet 9 inches. For me to try to wear the same size pants as someone who is 5 inches shorter than me is an unrealistic goal. I could never healthily be the same size as someone who is 5 feet 4 inches tall. Do you see what I'm saying? Everybody is different. That's my next point.
Like I just said, we all are different. There literally is not a single other person that is the same as you in this whole entire world. That's pretty incredible if you think about the fact that there's 7 billion people currently living on this planet. So, if we're all different, how do we even calculate what the standard of "normal" or "perfect" is? We can't. This is our problem.
So often young girls find themselves caught up in the trends of the time and feel like they have to look like everyone else. We think that because that "pretty girl" in the magazine has a thigh gap we should too. We spend our time and often money working our butts off to be someone we aren't. You were made to be you! If you work hard at being the best you that you can be, you will be surprised how much better you feel in your own skin.
There's an analogy I read somewhere that goes like this. "You can be the juiciest, most delicious peach in the whole entire world and there's still gonna be someone who hates peaches." What I've learned from this is that we can't please everybody. No matter how much we try, there is always going to be someone who doesn't like what we look like or thinks we that we don't measure up. We need to accept that these people exist and learn to not let it faze us.
Lastly, an issue I see is people putting others down for their body type. Let's accept it, there are people who are naturally very thin with higher metabolisms. There are also people who have bigger builds and low metabolisms and then everything in-between. It's part of something called genetics. It's our code for life and it's what makes us who we are. People can't help what their genes are. We're born with them. When we tell people, "Eat a cheeseburger, girl!" or, "Wow, you're so skinny!" it can be just as hurtful as calling someone fat or telling them they're obese and should get a gym membership. We would never say that to someone! But somehow we get away with saying the equivalent to skinny people. We need to be so careful with our words. We have life and death in our tongue. Literally. What we say can drive people to do better or drive them to death.
Okay, so I said all of that to remind you that we need to take care of ourselves, stay active, and fill our body with the nutrients it needs to stay healthy. Be yourself and don't judge other people because they are different than you or the girls in magazines. But remember to enjoy life! Live a little. That dessert or cheeseburger won't effect you for the rest of your life. YOU are beautiful; never forget that.
*Side note: in case you didn't know, the girls in the magazines never look the same in real life! We have this thing called Photoshop that can work miracles on literally every part of someone's body. Here's a quick example of Nicole Weider. She is a retired model and founder of Project Inspired. Check out her website. She's awesome! I personally think she looks great in the first picture. This just goes to show you the skewed view the media really gives us.
I hope you enjoyed this post. This is an area I am passionate about so that's why it ended up being so long. Thanks for reading!
-Anna
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