It's time to speak up about body image! The media has painted a picture of the “ideal image,” but let's face it . . . the ideal image is not realistic and can be unhealthy to achieve. The Love Your Body Campaign encourages students to love their bodies by promoting healthy body image.
Are you AWARE?
This Dove Evolution video is an example of why our perception of beauty is distorted.
How you feel about your body, including your height, shape, and weight
How you sense and control your body as you move
How you feel in your body, not just about your body
Body image is influenced by a variety of factors:
Comments from family, friends and others about our, their, and other people's bodies
Ideals that we develop about physical appearance
The frequency with which we compare ourselves to others
Exposure to images of idealized versus normal bodies
The experience of physical activity
The experience of abuse, including sexual, physical, and emotional abuse
The experience of prejudice and discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, ability, sexual orientation or gender identity
Sensory experiences, including pleasure, pain and illness
Individuals can have a negative body image-a distorted perception of their shape, or feelings of discomfort, shame, or anxiety about your body-or a positive body image-a true perception of your appearance, seeing yourself as you really are and liking what you see.
For most people, body image is fluid, meaning it falls on a spectrum rather than being 100 percent positive or negative. Your perception of your body image can change on a daily basis or even multiple times in one day.
Love Your Body
There is so much that you can do to love your body. Below are a few suggestions.
Appreciate all that your body can do
Keep a top-10 list of things you like about yourself
Remember, true beauty is not simply skin deep
Look at yourself as a whole person
Surround yourself with positive people
Shut down negative voices in your head
Wear comfortable clothes
Become a critical viewer of social and media messages
Stay off the scale
De-emphasize numbers, such as weight and BMI
Realize that you cannot change your body type
Avoid comparing yourself to others
Recognize that size prejudice is a form of discrimination
Take a Body Positive Approach
Taking a body positive approach means you should:
Re-envision your beauty as a creative, dynamic process
Create your own beauty definitions
Take power away from the external messages you receive about what beauty is supposed to look like, and decide for yourself what constitutes real beauty
Remind yourself: beauty ideals are social constructs, not truth
Don't confuse physical self-care with a desire to transform your body to fit someone else's definition of beauty
