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The images of a “perfect body” have changed in many ways throughout the years, including the appearance of them and the way those appearances are being pushed onto future generations; this happens not only through media but also through the way parents have been raising and appearing to their children. This can lead to parents unknowingly passing on body image issues to their children, creating lifelong insecurities and self-doubt.
While diets are very common today, the appearance of them in the media has blown up. But society hasn’t really had the chance to sit back and look at the influence it has created on people. Many adults have at least thought of the idea of going on a diet, and many of them end up doing it. While they might have thought the diet was just a quick way for them to lose some weight, their children watched the constant surveillance of calories and food portions. Some children even have to partake in the diets themselves to help their parents stay on track. But unknown to anyone, the routine of checking calories and having perfect ratios of foods was being engraved into the child’s mind. This is taking away the freedom of being able to enjoy everyday junk foods and classic childhood snacks.
Coupled with diet culture, problems like misogyny have plagued our society's view of women for centuries; including what they are “supposed” to look like. For many of our parents, these teachings have been deeply engraved into their minds, causing them to naturally project it onto their children. Sadly, for young women this can be detrimental for their overall state of confidence and self worth. From young ages, most women are told to “suck in their stomach”, to shave, and to watch what they eat. Now, to parents these may seem like innocent pieces of advice, but to their daughters these will slowly start to teach them that their body isn’t perfect the way it is in its natural form.
With misogyny, the media also plays a big part in the pushing of a “socially acceptable figure” and it has been pushed for generations. From the lack of diversity in media, and the unrealistic weight of having celebrities or models shoved in the faces of normal people, it's only natural for insecurities to form. This could also start to shape women into thinking they have to look like these huge celebrities to please a man. Since that's all they see in movies, tv shows, and stories. The lack of showing everyday bodies has built up an unconscious standard in a lot of women's heads. That will continue to be projected to their kids, and the kids that come after them. Building up insecurities that, even if not strong, will still plague the minds of many women occasionally, taking down their self worth and their confidence with them.
As mentioned before, women’s self worth can be lowered down to nothing but a body, and for many women this can cause eating disorders to form even if they are unnoticed. From not eating enough, to purging when they do eat, it can cause an array of problems to form within the mind: where all they can think about how they’re going to stop themselves from taking in any type of food. Many eating disorders can go unnoticed by many, especially as women start to form into adults with their own lives. But what happens when maybe their kid starts to notice how little they eat? Maybe they’ll start to do the same because that's what they think is right? Or if they're a teen maybe they’ll start to compare their own meals to their parents, and start to feel like they're eating too much. Then the cycle continues, because now the teen is moderating how much they take in and what they think the outcome of eating a normal amount of food will cause.
Most children that have been raised by a mother or a parent that have been conditioned to constantly compare themselves to someone else know how hard it can be to witness. Which is why the “perfect body” idea needs to be pushed away, before it causes far more harm than it already has on past generations. The idea of inclusivity should not be taboo, but should just be the natural plan. Because not everyone looks the same, and we need to begin to project that to younger generations to help them not fall into the cycle that has been pushed upon way too many.
Cover photo courtesy of GoodStudio.
About the writer:
Gabriella Munoz is a staff writer for The Lion's Roar. You can learn more about her by clicking here.
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