Body Shaming

Today I would like to address something near and dear to my heart. As an older sister I see my younger sisters judging themselves because of their bodies, I sometimes catch myself judging my body and even worse I sometimes hear other girls judging OTHERS about THEIR bodies. And none of it is ok, we need to stop body shaming both ourselves and others, and trade in hate for love.

It hurts me to see the pain that my sisters go through, the pain of trying to conform and achieve the "right" body; they aren't changing to live a healthier lifestyle, they're changing their bodies to try and please society. It's even more painful to realize that girls everywhere are under the same pressure, and they are taking extremely unhealthy routes to achieve what society defines as "perfect" or "real."

Body shaming is telling somebody that they're body isn't good enough, that's it ugly and gross, and doing that can destroy somebody's self esteem. But the people who think that it's OK to body shame others, those are the people that need the most help; they hurt others people for a vast amount of reasons, but not one of those reasons is justifiable.

So girls, boys, really ANYBODY reading this post, think about a time or a moment in your life where somebody made you feel terrible about your body. Think about that time and not only how you felt in that moment, but how you felt in the days following. Did you become self conscious? Pay more attention to what you were eating and start comparing yourself to other people who seemingly had "better" bodies than you? IF you've gone through that, I'm extremely sorry, nobody deserves to feel uncomfortable in their own skin. IF you've gone through that, then you know exactly what body shaming is, and hopefully you don't ever make somebody else feel uncomfortable in their own skin.

Girls should be working out and eating healthy because they WANT to make a lifestyle change, NOT because someone somewhere told them that their body isn't "good enough." Everybody is unique, and that's what makes you beautiful; the fact that you're the only person on Earth that's exactly like you.

Oh, and next time you look at the cover of a magazine and think, "I wish that I had a body just like hers," remember that not even the girl on the magazine cover actually looks like the girl on the magazine cover. 

I realize that not all of my readers go to church, or consider themselves christian, or believe in God. But there is a bible verse that I would like to share with you, I read it when I'm feeling uncomfortable in my own skin, and it brings me strength. It says, "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment such as the wearing elaborate hairstyles or gold jewelry and fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit which is of great worth in God's eyes."