Body Shaming Rampant In 2015 Will Blow Your Mind
Kelly Clarkson has been victimized like we all have at one point or another.
BODY-ACCEPTANCE
According to the Gregorian calendar, we are in the twenty-first century though today’s sociopolitical state would say otherwise. We still find it acceptable to berate strangers on their fashion choices, hair styles, large pores, and anything above a size 4 waist (Beyoncé helped widen that margin from 2 to 4). Instead of promoting healthy living and doing whatever may be in our control to maximize well-being and longevity, we focus on the shallow, hindering growth and stimulating insecurity. Campaigns about body-acceptance have continued to mount; while laudable in their ambitions, they indicate that true progress has yet to be achieved in 2015. These campaigns are evidence that as a society, we are just not there yet.
LANE BRYANT’S #IMNOANGEL CAMPAIGN
Lane Bryant launched its #ImNoAngel campaign to ‘show what sexy looks like,’ and dispel the myth propagated by altered and doctored images of Victoria Secret ‘Angels.’ Launched last week, the #ImNoAngel campaign seeks to challenge conventional standards of beauty. The lingerie brand, which is known for designing intimates for curvier women, hopes to “empower ALL women to love every part of herself” — a noteworthy cause.
The #ImNoAngel campaign is not the first of its kind. For years, there have been similar movements working to generate awareness and foster greater self-love: Dove’s “Real Beauty” and the “Love Your Body” campaigns come to mind. Ushering in various depictions of beauty, these campaigns are taking steps in the right direction, but as Fox News’s Chris Wallace makes clear: we are still in desperate need of a societal transformation. It’s exhausting that these backwards ideologies still permeate the conversation on self-acceptance.
BODY SHAMING AND FOX NEWS
It’s not much of a surprise that a Fox News host would take to such immaturity, but it remains perplexing and degrading. Wallace and radio host Mike Gallagher mocked the American Idol-turned pop star on the “The Mike Gallagher Show” last week, saying Clarkson “could stay off the deep dish pizza for a little while.” Their remarks come at the height of public critique regarding Clarkson’s weight — a sure sign that the media needs to do more investigating and less gossiping. It’s as if the world has reached a pinnacle of peace and harmony, and there’s a shortage of pressing issues to report. Let’s get on with it already.
DISPELLING NEGATIVE IMAGES
Corporate and grassroots campaigns are great, they stir momentum and get people talking. But we have to do more to stop such commentary from being remotely acceptable. It is truly shameful to promote negative ideas of physical beauty, to negate a woman’s self-worth because of her waist size. We’re in the age of the ‘waist-training’ craze, or wrapping tight material around the waist and lower rib cage in an effort to appear slimmer. Despite what Hollywood may believe, medicine says waist-training is not a real substitute for fitness. It’s just another demeaning tactic. Instead of advertising ways to superficially slim down, we need campaigns for building strong bones, a healthy mind, and a healthy heart.
