Body Image.
Again, a controversial topic that makes us crazy.
I watched the new Dove commercial again the other day. This commercial is so interesting. It is plain old, good advertising.
(If you haven't seen it, please go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpaOjMXyJGk.)
It took their slogan of "Real Beauty" and made it less controversial than previous campaigns on size and health, and instead was something 99% of women could relate to. The moral of the story with this campaign - We are too hard on ourselves.
Let's face facts ladies. Our bodies can be improved (diet and exercise are miracle workers), sculpted, treated like temples, lathered in lotions, and tanned by the sun's rays, but without surgery (or, in the case of the media, photo editing) we have to work with what our mama's gave us. DNA truly does give us some limitations.
For instance, I'm 5 foot tall. This fact alone means I will never be a model. I can't reach the floor when I sit down half the time and forget reaching the top shelf. It also means that a maxi dress looks atrocious on me and walking shorts are a no go. I am also "curvy". I have legitimate curves that will not go away no matter how much weight I were to lose. I can't pull off blousy tops because I either A) look like a milk maid in them or B) (even worse) look pregnant. It is what it is.
I am overall pretty happy with my body but not because I look perfect. I've just accepted that there are things that would be VERY hard to change without going to extremes and frankly I just don't think that 4 hours of cardio a day and absolutely no cookies ever are worth having a magazine worthy body.
Instead I'd like to focus on generally eating healthy, getting exercise in ways I find fun (running = torture for this girl, kayaking = awesome and sculpted arms too!) and having good self esteem. I totally understand that this is hard to do and I'm far from perfect at any of it.
I think I have a "one up" on many of the fairer sex though because of my background in both psychology and advertising. There are studies that show that men ALMOST ALWAYS like their women bigger than the woman would choose to be. That's interesting right there...I think the biology gods played a trick on the female mind and laugh at us as we obsess over our bottoms. In addition, there is seriously no ad that isn't air brushed...none..zip..zero. Once you know that, you stop caring what the girls in the magazines look like because THEY'RE NOT REAL!
But even if you can get over the girls in the magazines, you still have gorgeous, skinny, tan women with large bosoms to deal with in real life. There aren't many of them, but they do exist, and even those of us with high levels of self esteem can find ourselves comparing ourselves to these ladies from time to time.
The other day a girlfriend of mine came over and we were discussing body image as a whole. She was talking about fitness and weight and how she felt about herself. Her self image is fairly healthy (and it should be, she's fit and beautiful!) but she still finds herself comparing her body to other women in a negative way. I finally asked who it is she would want to look like if she could choose. I happened to know all the girls she named off and every single one of these girls is teeny tiny (almost boy like) with fake boobs (thus no more boy like). When I said "Friend, do you know that every girl you just listed has had a boob job?" she cracked up laughing and admitted she had no idea. (No judgment on boob jobs from me!) So, my poor friend, has been comparing herself to an unnatural ideal. Of course she can't compete with surgery!
So, ladies, don't compare yourself at all. Eat healthy, exercise, get lots of sleep, drink lots of water, tell yourself that you're beautiful everyday like 10 times., and smile a lot. Or at least try to. That's the best we can do.
Again, a controversial topic that makes us crazy.
I watched the new Dove commercial again the other day. This commercial is so interesting. It is plain old, good advertising.
(If you haven't seen it, please go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpaOjMXyJGk.)
It took their slogan of "Real Beauty" and made it less controversial than previous campaigns on size and health, and instead was something 99% of women could relate to. The moral of the story with this campaign - We are too hard on ourselves.
Let's face facts ladies. Our bodies can be improved (diet and exercise are miracle workers), sculpted, treated like temples, lathered in lotions, and tanned by the sun's rays, but without surgery (or, in the case of the media, photo editing) we have to work with what our mama's gave us. DNA truly does give us some limitations.
For instance, I'm 5 foot tall. This fact alone means I will never be a model. I can't reach the floor when I sit down half the time and forget reaching the top shelf. It also means that a maxi dress looks atrocious on me and walking shorts are a no go. I am also "curvy". I have legitimate curves that will not go away no matter how much weight I were to lose. I can't pull off blousy tops because I either A) look like a milk maid in them or B) (even worse) look pregnant. It is what it is.
I am overall pretty happy with my body but not because I look perfect. I've just accepted that there are things that would be VERY hard to change without going to extremes and frankly I just don't think that 4 hours of cardio a day and absolutely no cookies ever are worth having a magazine worthy body.
Instead I'd like to focus on generally eating healthy, getting exercise in ways I find fun (running = torture for this girl, kayaking = awesome and sculpted arms too!) and having good self esteem. I totally understand that this is hard to do and I'm far from perfect at any of it.
I think I have a "one up" on many of the fairer sex though because of my background in both psychology and advertising. There are studies that show that men ALMOST ALWAYS like their women bigger than the woman would choose to be. That's interesting right there...I think the biology gods played a trick on the female mind and laugh at us as we obsess over our bottoms. In addition, there is seriously no ad that isn't air brushed...none..zip..zero. Once you know that, you stop caring what the girls in the magazines look like because THEY'RE NOT REAL!
But even if you can get over the girls in the magazines, you still have gorgeous, skinny, tan women with large bosoms to deal with in real life. There aren't many of them, but they do exist, and even those of us with high levels of self esteem can find ourselves comparing ourselves to these ladies from time to time.
The other day a girlfriend of mine came over and we were discussing body image as a whole. She was talking about fitness and weight and how she felt about herself. Her self image is fairly healthy (and it should be, she's fit and beautiful!) but she still finds herself comparing her body to other women in a negative way. I finally asked who it is she would want to look like if she could choose. I happened to know all the girls she named off and every single one of these girls is teeny tiny (almost boy like) with fake boobs (thus no more boy like). When I said "Friend, do you know that every girl you just listed has had a boob job?" she cracked up laughing and admitted she had no idea. (No judgment on boob jobs from me!) So, my poor friend, has been comparing herself to an unnatural ideal. Of course she can't compete with surgery!
So, ladies, don't compare yourself at all. Eat healthy, exercise, get lots of sleep, drink lots of water, tell yourself that you're beautiful everyday like 10 times., and smile a lot. Or at least try to. That's the best we can do.
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