Shaken To My Core

I was raised in Texas so very few things shock me. However, I read a statistic the other day that literally left me gobsmacked.

42% of girls between the ages of 6 years and 9 years old want to be thinner.

Read that again because I know you think you read it wrong. You didn’t.

Information provided by the Health Research Funding Organisation also tells that 80% of women say that the images of women on TV and in movies, fashion magazines and advertising make them feel insecure.

I wish I could raise my hand and say, “Nah, not me.” But I can’t. As a child of the Seventies, First Generation born and bred feminist, I have to ask what is that all about!?

The impact of the pressures we women put on ourselves and allow society to purpurate is unsustainable. If we want to leave a legacy of strength for our sons & daughters, it has to start with us. How do we see ourselves? What do we say about ourselves, our bodies, that our children are picking up on? Have we allowed ourselves and self-image to be moulded by the infamous ‘they’.

You know ‘them’. The ones who designs clothes and cast movies. The ones who use edited images and negative language in advertising to make me believe there is something wrong with my body, my size, aging – basically there is something wrong me that buying their product will fix.

I say ‘Get Stuffed!’ The lines and wrinkles on my face don’t need ‘correcting’. They are correct for my age. They show I have lived, and I have laugh lines to prove a happy life. My body, my size is healthy and that is what is important. Let’s face it at 5’1” I never had a chance at being a Super Model.

Here’s what is important. My looks do not decide my value, I do. I am more than. More than the clothes. More than the body others see.  More than the car I drive or the house I live in. That’s what I want my children to know about me, themselves and their fellow human beings. We are More.