We live in a world where we blame society for everything. Yet, we often forget the obvious: we are part of society and we all have a part in what’s trending in the world. An example of this is body image along with the entire concept of what’s considered beautiful.
Back in the 1950’s, Marilyn Monroe’s curves made her a sex symbol known worldwide. Years after that, we had the skinny model phase, where the majority of women walking down the runway were very thin and caused people to believe they didn’t fit the “acceptable” body type. Eating disorders became a popular trend.
Now, in 2015, women face other types of body “goals.” It’s the time where women are hot if they have a big butt and flat stomach with a tiny waist, big thighs and nice breasts.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of people willing to go that extra mile to achieve such beauty standards. Plastic surgery, butt implants, products that aren’t certified – going to cheaper alternatives for plastic procedures happens more often than we think.
Makeup and waist trainers have become more popular as well. Insecurities rise when women feel they aren’t up to these new standards.
The Victoria’s Secret fashion show was recorded last week and tweets along the lines of “oh I’ll put my sandwich down now” emerged. Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner made their debut as VS Angels. Interestingly enough, there were rumors circulating last year that Hadid wasn’t accepted into the famous fashion show because her body wasn’t quite “ideal” for it yet. I guess we’ll just have wait for the day a plus size model will show up on the famous runway to break some stereotypes.
Until then, we have more to think about.
In the beginning of November, Essena O’Neil, famous for being “perfect” on Instagram, broke down in tears in a video explaining why she was quitting social media. The pressure broke her down.
Before deleting her Instagram account, she edited her photos with “real” captions, detailing what was really going on in those photos, such as how she didn’t eat all day so her stomach would remain flat. Now, O’Neil is basically at war with social media and her words opened the eyes of many young girls out there.
Such pressure and insecurities that young girls face around the world also come from part of the male population and their opinions on what’s hot and what’s not. They obsess over these women, when most of the girls around them probably just have an “average” body type. It’s hard when some women are looking for their possible loved ones and they feel like they don’t fit the “perfect” stereotype.
People need to remember that, although it’s okay to pursue another look to make us feel better about ourselves, we must consider the reasons and how far we’re willing to go to change ourselves.
Trends will always change, but we can’t always change with them. Our body and our minds might not be able to keep up with constantly changing trends.
