Love Yourself: Cultivating Body Positivity
Alyssa McGuigan ‘23 Staff Writer
Michaela Wall ‘23 Staff Writer
Society tells us that if we work out four hours a day, only eat one meal and starve ourselves sick, we will have the ideal body. Once you can wrap your fingers around your waist until they touch, you’re beautiful. Once that three-sizes-too-small shirt fits, you’ve reached your goal. Society says that if you’re too big, you’re fat. Simultaneously, you’re boney and sickly if you’re too small. Diet culture and social media, specifically Instagram, flaunt these definitions, knowing that teens will conform. This can’t continue as an acceptable way to live. Body positivity is a widespread rejection of those impossible standards, showing people of all ages that their body is beautiful no matter size, race, culture, gender identification, sexuality or imperfections. Sophomore Prem Doshi defines body positivity as “How one sees themselves.
Body positivity is being happy with the body that you have. It also means being in the right mindset to love yourself.” Many people struggle with the idea of being perfect. They wrestle the feelings of despair and helplessness when they cannot achieve a perceived idea of perfection.
Achieving body positivity is difficult. Promoting body positivity in our schools can be as easy as putting up posters telling students that they matter, that they shouldn’t have to feel the way they do. In virtual learning, promotion can include setting up group discussions — open to all students — with professionals to ensure students don’t develop eating disorders. Eating disorders come in many forms, such as starving oneself (anorexia), binge eating, or forcefully vomiting (bulimia). The National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders shares that 9% of Americans will have an eating disorder in their lifetime, and 10,200 Americans die each year as a direct result of an eating disorder. Also, more than a quarter of people who suffer from eating disorders attempt suicide.
Body positivity is being happy with the body that you have. It also means being in the right mindset to love yourself.” Many people struggle with the idea of being perfect. They wrestle the feelings of despair and helplessness when they cannot achieve a perceived idea of perfection.
Achieving body positivity is difficult. Promoting body positivity in our schools can be as easy as putting up posters telling students that they matter, that they shouldn’t have to feel the way they do. In virtual learning, promotion can include setting up group discussions — open to all students — with professionals to ensure students don’t develop eating disorders. Eating disorders come in many forms, such as starving oneself (anorexia), binge eating, or forcefully vomiting (bulimia). The National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders shares that 9% of Americans will have an eating disorder in their lifetime, and 10,200 Americans die each year as a direct result of an eating disorder. Also, more than a quarter of people who suffer from eating disorders attempt suicide.
Gender, race, socioeconomic status, age and additional diagnoses can affect the likelihood one develops an eating disorder, recovers from a disorder, or receives comprehensive treatment for the disorder (visit anad.org for more information). Senior Hannah Watanabe says, “I used to like diets and stuff, and I tried [them] when I was younger when I was really kind of hating my body. And honestly, it didn’t do anything good for me. It ended up spiraling my eating disorder out of control.” Diets used to be just a term for cutting out a food group to improve your personal health. The diets of today are much more restrictive such as Keto, strict vegan diets, raw food diets, and many low-carb diets. Diets and diet culture give young and impressionable teens unrealistic goals, such as losing 20 pounds in one week. When they can’t meet those goals, they feel like failures.
Schools must promote body positivity because in your teenage years, you spend over 35 hours a week in school. No one could argue that school has a large impact on student lives. Some even spend more time there for extra help, clubs and sports. Though these mental health issues are difficult to talk about, schools can do so much to promote body positivity. Open discussion about these ideals in a school can open up discussions at home and make students feel less alone. If schools can provide a safe space for struggling students, it could make a tremendous impact. In the end, it all comes full circle to promoting body positivity, as loving yourself is the best prevention method for eating disorders and other consequences of a negative body image.
Within Howard, our school is congratulated on its diversity, awareness and problem-solving. However, with new problems occurring every day, it is important to stay aware and educated. We conducted a poll for Howard students with the following question, “Has society altered your body image, and has that affected your mental health?” With 16 votes, the overwhelming response via Twitter poll was yes (94%). Sophomore Gracin O’Connor came forward to say, “Seeing as I am not a 5 ‘10’’, size 0, perfect Instagram body type, I would have to say absolutely yes.” Senior Hannah Wantanabe says, “I wanted to look like that when I was like 12. I was thinking about plastic surgery, and I should not have been thinking about that at all because I was literally a 12 year old. I wasn’t even a teenager yet.”
Sophomore Meadow Lockwood says, “I’m not really impacted that much by what strangers think about me, it’s more how my friends see me that matters. I know that all of my friends love me for who I am, so I feel validated.” This is the right mindset for a healthy body image, yet the majority of high school students feel the opposite. A normal and healthy body is going to look different for every single individual. We could all exercise the same, eat the same and live our lives exactly the same. Nonetheless, we would all look different. Each body is built differently. Just as we all have different hair and eye colors, each body has different structures. That’s why it is so important to love your own body the way it is. We need to promote body positivity at Howard just as much as we promote good grades. Just like the knowledge we get from school, personal body image is something we will carry with us for the rest of our lives.
Schools must promote body positivity because in your teenage years, you spend over 35 hours a week in school. No one could argue that school has a large impact on student lives. Some even spend more time there for extra help, clubs and sports. Though these mental health issues are difficult to talk about, schools can do so much to promote body positivity. Open discussion about these ideals in a school can open up discussions at home and make students feel less alone. If schools can provide a safe space for struggling students, it could make a tremendous impact. In the end, it all comes full circle to promoting body positivity, as loving yourself is the best prevention method for eating disorders and other consequences of a negative body image.
Within Howard, our school is congratulated on its diversity, awareness and problem-solving. However, with new problems occurring every day, it is important to stay aware and educated. We conducted a poll for Howard students with the following question, “Has society altered your body image, and has that affected your mental health?” With 16 votes, the overwhelming response via Twitter poll was yes (94%). Sophomore Gracin O’Connor came forward to say, “Seeing as I am not a 5 ‘10’’, size 0, perfect Instagram body type, I would have to say absolutely yes.” Senior Hannah Wantanabe says, “I wanted to look like that when I was like 12. I was thinking about plastic surgery, and I should not have been thinking about that at all because I was literally a 12 year old. I wasn’t even a teenager yet.”
Sophomore Meadow Lockwood says, “I’m not really impacted that much by what strangers think about me, it’s more how my friends see me that matters. I know that all of my friends love me for who I am, so I feel validated.” This is the right mindset for a healthy body image, yet the majority of high school students feel the opposite. A normal and healthy body is going to look different for every single individual. We could all exercise the same, eat the same and live our lives exactly the same. Nonetheless, we would all look different. Each body is built differently. Just as we all have different hair and eye colors, each body has different structures. That’s why it is so important to love your own body the way it is. We need to promote body positivity at Howard just as much as we promote good grades. Just like the knowledge we get from school, personal body image is something we will carry with us for the rest of our lives.