So I thought that I would do a bit of a more personal post today. There's no doubt that body image has a HUGE role in fashion and has since modelling began. It's really becoming hard to come by a person with a positive attitude about how they look. Being skinny or having all the latest clothes doesn't define beauty. How we view our bodies is becoming a problem and all of its knock on effects, so I am taking this time to try and preach to you all about just how beautiful you are.
There's no doubt that being a teenager is hard. Don't even get me started on secondary school! Surrounded by different body types all day, everyday and having the time to compare yourself to each and every one of them. Speaking from a personal perspective, I still sometimes lack in the whole body confidence department. There may be days where I don't want to be in a photo or go out because I've convinced myself that I feel "fat". We have access to so many things like magazines and the Internet which depict how they think we should look. I'd love to meet the person who made size zero the new beautiful and give them a piece of my mind! I'm all for being healthy but seriously, you're not meant to look like a skeleton. People have been diagnosed with physical and mental illnesses from the stress and confusion caused by having to look a certain way in order to be accepted in society. The most common types are depression, anorexia and bulimia. It saddens me to say that I've known people in the past who have suffered from these due to the pressure they felt to look like a "normal" person. Thankfully they were able to talk about it and realise that they were fine, just the way they were. But what happens to the people who don't talk? What happens to the people who are even getting abuse from peers about how they look? Who tells the fourteen year old school girl that the people texting her everyday are wrong when they say that she's fat or ugly? WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE WORLD!?!? People shouldn't feel like they have to lie to their parents about what they ate at school when the fact is, they had nothing. People shouldn't feel so bad to the point where, well I don't know, let's say sneak out of the bed at midnight to make themselves throw up that evening's dinner. You have no idea that you are so perfect, no matter what anyone says! Yes, I know that life can be hard sometimes but you do not need to do this to yourself. Look at Marilyn Monroe! She is still considered the most beautiful woman that ever existed and she was a size 14! Look at the poor girl who committed suicide over the abuse she was getting about how she looked and what she wore. We have to stop giving each other such a hard time about how we look. Fashion is most certainly not about looking a certain way and having certain clothes. My belief is that fashion isn't about what you wear, it's how you wear it and how it represents you as you're own person.
I'm sure that you all know by now just how much I love fashion and how I long to be apart of the industry. But this particular subject is one that I am totally against. I fantasise constantly about how when I'm a successful designer, I'll have REAL people modelling for me. I don't want to make people feel that they have to have the "look" in order for me to have time for them. I'm not ashamed to admit that I felt pressured to wear makeup just because a load of other people claimed that I had to in order to look normal. I wear glasses and at the beginning of secondary school, I refused to take them off. They acted as a mask for me and I felt that they distracted people from what the rest of me looked like. I've gotten over it and I now own a fab pair of Gok Wan glasses. I bought them because he does so much for teens with negative thoughts about themselves so I wanted to support him in his mission. Now, I am in my element. I'm doing something I love. And I am no way ashamed to admit that I have an ass, I have thighs, hips, boobs, THE LOT. I am a happy size 12 and I don't plan on changing that for anybody, no matter how much they say I'm not meant to be like this.
So guys, don't let the people in the magazines make you feel like you look weird or fat. You are neither of those things. You're friends and family love ALL OF YOU! Stay strong and know that you are beautiful. And don't forget to let other people know that they are beautiful too.
Sites that I think are fantastic when it comes to helping teens believe in themselves or if they just need someone to talk to.
Great post! I agree with everything you said! (And I loved the Marilyn reference too) <3
ReplyDeleteThanks Adam :) x
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