Body image versus Society

Part of my job is to help people work through their body image issues. It is so sad to see such beautiful people (both inside and out) struggle to see any positives about themselves. With a lot of hard work and time, my clients are able to start seeing progress! What makes me upset is society's role in all of this!

I have had many discussions about this with clients, colleagues and friends and everyone agrees that society has warped and unrealistic views and standards...why then are we still trying to compare ourselves to models and actors who are airbrushed? Why are we also calling the average sized woman a "plus size" woman! Embrace it all you want but as long as you call it this, you are conforming to society's standards that to be a size 14 or above (which is more than half of the population) makes you "big". How are we supposed to love and accept ourselves when society is basically constantly telling us "yes but....".

Through all of this, we have worked together to get to a better place and now this......a movie aimed at a younger generation about a princess who is considered an ugly princess because she is curvy. I'm in absolute shock that the movie has gotten as far as it has given the premise. It makes me so upset that this message is still so loud in our culture. It is NOT ok to believe this and to continue to accept this as our norms. Where are the movies that teach people to love themselves and their bodies regardless of what they look like. Health is what's important and I have written about this before....being healthy and being "skinny/thin" are NOT the same thing. People can be healthy at all sizes and people can get sick at all sizes. Let's stop letting size, shape and outward appearances define who we are to ourselves and to society.

What can you do? Send letters to the producers of this movie and boycott it. Get all of your friends and family to boycott it as well. Send them the message that we will not accept this premise anymore!!!