I think when we talk about body image we do so in a way that can really minimize it. I am definitely guilt of that, especially in my earlier years when I was completing my studies. Body image struggles are attached to a certain part of the population, and are thought to have a certain narrow effect. When I was first looking at body image it was in the context of eating disorders. In this narrow realm the main focus was on how negative body image impacts behaviour around food, weight and body. While discourse has acknowledge that body image struggles are not only an experience of those with an eating disorder, but rather a significant portion of the population are dissatisfied with their body, the discourse largely remains around weight and actions in relation to food and activity levels. That in and of itself does capture a lot and continued work is definitely needed there. BUT body image and its struggles goes significantly beyond that, and it’s impact on society is bigger than what we realize. It goes beyond whether I think I am fat or thin, and what clothes I decide to wear or whether or not to go to the gym. Struggles with body image around weight not only impacts how a person feels but also how, or if, they put themselves out there. People change their career path or don’t have a voice, because of how they feel about their weight. So many unspoken words. So much untapped potential. All because a bunch of rules that govern our sense of who can do what and when, that we are conditioned to believe because we have been exposed to it again and again and again.
But body image expands further than that, as it is not just about weight and shape. Let us bring gender into it as well. I have loved the conversations I have had in recent years with people from the LBGTQIA+ community, as they have opened my eyes to further elements of body image. On top of the messages and rules around weight, there are messages about masculinity and femininity. The rule book of how a person should look gets bigger. Then you add on top of that the colour of your skin. Your ethnicity. Again, more rules about how you should look like in order to have a voice or place in society. You can then add that finer details – your height, the colour of your hair, whether you choose to have tattoos or piercings. The book of rules and judgments continues to get thicker and thicker.
Based on all these rules and judgments, the image that comes to mind of someone who is successful, who can have a voice or a place in the world, and putting it more bluntly ‘has their shit together’ is so so so narrow. As a result there are very few people in the world who can look in the mirror without seeing something that sets off thoughts of ‘Nope. Not good enough. Not you’. Whether it is because of their weight, gender, ethnicity or the myriad of other things of the body that are used to judge. We have been conditioned to have these internal responses. And in the face of that, many feel like they can’t even try to have a voice or take up space…to be themselves to their true potential whatever that may be. As a result, how many voices are we not hearing? how much wisdom is being left unspoken? how much creativity is being kept hidden? how many connections are not being made? How much is the world being held back or robbed of incredible potential?
Because we have been conditioned to have these responses, over many years of constant and repeated exposure- they aren’t just going to go away easily. They are going to pop up. They are going to hang around. They are going to be resistant to anything that runs against them – at an individual and societal level. The more we take action even though we have those thoughts and feelings as we look in the mirror, the more we demonstrate to ourselves and those around us that all those rules and judgements aren’t helpful or true. How we look and the condition thoughts we have doesn’t have to stop us from having a voice or being who we want to be. It doesn’t stop us from being good people. It doesn’t stop us from being smart. It doesn’t stop us from being creative. It doesn’t stop us from being kind. It doesn’t stop us from being adventurous. It doesn’t stop us from being successful. In action we demonstrate to ourselves and the world that we are so much more than our body.
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