The Ideal Body Shape and Image.

In the past, the ideal body shape was a woman with curves, love handles, and nicely rounded, the opposite of today. This past image developed because a woman of this shape was associated with wealth because she obviously could afford food.  She could eat as much as she wanted and her figured showed it.  

As time passed, women still were shown to have curves and they were not thin even up into the 40's and 50's.  Think about Mae West who had a very rounded figure and obviously did not weigh 98 pounds dripping west.  After her, another was Marilyn Monroe with her beautifully curved figure.  

Even the movie stars and models of the time were nicely curved and looked like real women but once Twiggy hit the world as the girl of the 1960's, suddenly being thin was ideal.  The thinner the better and this ideal continued into the 1990's with Kate Moss.  Once social media and reality shows exploded, we've been seeing a very specific look emerge as "The Look".  Yes it may be one of curves but for many, the curves have been added via plastic surgery, extensive use of personal trainers, and other methods.

We have stars sharing how they lost 16 pounds in 21 days by denying themselves certain foods, or people trying to shame others for "being fat" or having some other imperfection.  The reality is that most women do not have the money to hire personal trainers, pay plastic surgeons, or take advantage of cosmetic items to rid ourselves of wrinkles, a bit of excess flesh, or transfer fat to our butts.  

These images create unrealistic views of what the right body shape is.  They make us unsatisfied with ourselves so we want to do something about it.  There is a lack of understanding that the best body shape is the one that works for us with our proportions, our bust, our rear, etc.  I can tell you, I have never had a totally flat stomach, even before I had emergency surgery that left me with a nasty scar on the abdomen.  I've always been a bit smooshie in the abdomen but now am a bit more since the surgery.  

Unless I could afford to have plastic surgery, I'll always have that, yet it doesn't match up with the popular body shape you see around you.  I'm also never going to have an hour glass figure because I wasn't built that way.  If you look at statistics, most women are going to be curvy and are not going to be a size 0 or 2. 

When I was taking Spanish, we went to a play called "Real Women Have Curves".  Yes, there was a movie by the same name but it wasn't the same as the play because in the play all the hispanic women worked in a factory making clothing for the women who wear a size 2.  None of the women were that thin.  I think the smallest sized woman was a sized 9.  Through the play they grew and one decided she needed to design clothing for women who had curves and were larger.  This lead to her having her own line of clothing since real women have curves.

I think we need a movement to help us learn to be satisfied with ourselves rather than trying to emulate an influencer or star who have a totally different body type and height.  We need to stop comparing ourselves with others, seeing imperfections rather than seeing our assets.  Let me know what you think, I"d love to hear.  Have a great day.