Kat Mitchell
1:13 PM
When do you feel the
most beautiful?
I feel the
most beautiful when someone I know really loves me and expresses that love with
a kind gesture, whether it be a surprise, a gift, or as simple as a hug. When
someone loves you despite of your flaws, the demons you have, and the struggle
you're going through, and they show that love-it's the best feeling in the
whole world. Genuine love makes me feel beautiful.
What do you think is
the most important thing for young girl's to know about their bodies as they
grow older?
You are
enough. You are extravagantly beautiful. There is no one else in this world
like you. You have the power to do great things. You deserve to be loved.
I feel like
this reassurance is so necessary for young girls. I had a very difficult time
accepting this as a young girl simply because no one ever said such things to
me. I wasn't considered the pretty one. I was friends with tall, skinny, long
haired friends growing up. I was the short, average sized,
mom-made-me-get-a-bob-haircut girl. It didn't feel good, even when I grew out
my hair and accepted the fact that I'll always be short and average sized. Even
if the girl's love language isn't words of affirmation, it is still a good idea
to instill such thoughts in her mind at a very young age. Also, I'd tell them
the girls they envy are wishing they could change something about
themselves, too.
What is a quote or
saying that makes you feel great about yourself?
"To
love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance."
Oscar Wilde
"...When things get
dark, when you feel really crappy about yourself, or your body, or how you
look, sometimes a good way to help yourself get out of that is to have some
gratitude. What I mean by that is go around your body and kind of thank it for
what it gives you and thank yourself for your great eyesight, or your thick
hair, or nice legs, or strong teeth or whatever it is that you have, that you
were given, and make friends with those parts of your body, and not try to
focus on the parts that will never change. Because, look, we’re all different,
everybody’s different, every body is different. There’s only, like, five
perfectly symmetrical people in the world, and they’re all movie stars, and
they should be, because their faces are very pleasing to look at, but the rest
of us are just a jangle of stuff, and the earlier you learn that you should focus
on what you have and not obsess about what you don’t have, the happier you will
be. You really will be happier in life if you let go of the things that you
will never have. And the other thing that I would say is that when you do talk
about yourself, or talk to yourself, or you have that tape running in your
head, about yourself, try to picture you talking to your own daughter. Or your
younger sister. Because you would tell your younger sister or your daughter
that she is beautiful, and you wouldn’t be lying. Because she is. And so are
you. So, don’t worry about finding love. You will always find love. Every
pot has a lid. There’s a lid for every pot, that’s what my grandma used to
say. And you deserve love, and you’ll get it."
EndFragment
Amy Poehler,
"Ask Amy: Bodies"
How do
you feel the media’s portrayal of women’s bodies influences their body image?
The media
has tried to bring a positive body image for women for a few years now, but I
believe they are missing the point. There are some very strong women in
the media that are showing their real dedication to promoting positive body
image. Women like Meryl Streep and Tina Fey are saying, "Hey! We made it
to the other side of the tunnel! So will you." Even the younger media sensations
like Demi Lovato and Jennifer Lawrence are supporting the positive body image.
However, at the same time, we have ignorance in our midst. Rap songs describing
the woman's body often have the characteristics of larger behind, flat stomach,
long legs, larger breasts, and full lips, soliciting the idea of beauty in a
man's eyes. This is not always the case, though, as many women don't have such
attributes. The models gracing the runways are still predominantly a small
size, and the entertainment world praises them for such. Fad diets, obsessions
over collarbones and thigh gaps, and the photoshopped movie star are all still
reigning as the highest goal for the American woman.
The
commercials in between television shows that have seemingly normal people are
broadcasting women in undergarments strutting the streets to sell underwear.
This would be fine, except that all of the women are all the same shape: a thin
(but not too skinny) woman with an even skin tone and awesome legs. Then the
next commercial is a diet commercial saying women that are overweight need to
do this diet so they can look beautiful again.
The media is
only doing a mediocre job with promoting body image. We, as believers of
positive body image, still have a lot of work to do. Hopefully in our lifetime,
we can change the standards of beauty for the media. I hope that one day, a
lady that would be seen today as a larger woman will grace the covers of Vogue magazine
and not be seen as "turning the tables" but rather an ordinary
occurrence of a model doing her job.
What is a personal
experience with your own body image that you would like to share?
Fourth grade
wasn't the prime of my existence. I was going through puberty before all of my
friends, my curly hair was still in a bob cut, and I still had to wear a
tankini to the pool because my mom thought the bikinis "didn't cover my
chest well." One day, my mom told me that I needed to start wearing bras
to school. I was so embarrassed. I didn't want to wear a bra, I would be the
only one who would wear one! Bras were for old people! A few weeks into the
school year, we had a field day, and I decided to wear my new white polo and
bright blue shorts from Academy. Turns out there were some water activities and
low and behold, there I was, the junior winner of the wet t-shirt contest. I
was hoping no one could see it (I was ten, I was filled with optimism and the
belief that Santa was still very real.) When my classmates and I lined up in
front of the classroom, though, my optimism vanquished. The popular girl in our
class came up behind me, popped my bra strap, and said, "Is that even a
real bra?" The girls and guys in my class roared in laughter as my face began
to get very hot and red. My eyes were welling up as the boy I had a crush on
said, "Are those the apples to your tree trunk legs?" That was
it. My sensitive pre-teen heart couldn't take it anymore. I told my
teacher I had to go to the bathroom and would come back in five minutes. First,
I was embarrassed by the coolest girl in class all because of these things
growing on my chest. Then, the boy I thought was so cute became so mean. I had,
and still to this day, "cankles," where the calf seems to go in a
straight line to the ankle rather than show any indention to distinguish
between the calf and the ankle. My thighs and hips were no better, not being
proportionate to the rest of my tiny frame. I hadn't been self conscious of it
before, but now the fear of people not liking me for my boobs and now my
cankles really got to me. I stayed in the bathroom for more than ten minutes,
and my teacher came to find me. She asked me what was wrong, that I never acted
like this before and she was concerned. I told her everything, and she just
hugged me for what seemed like a very long time. I remember her saying,
"I'm sorry you had to deal with this mean stuff already." Now, nine
years later, I can see how she was sorry for me dealing with such negativity at
a young age. However, this is the reality: girls can start to face negative
body image experiences as early as the age of six. SIX. I was playing in mud at
six and getting married to little boys on the playground. I can't even imagine
what would have happened if I experienced negative body image before then. The
experience has always stayed with me, and it became my little negativity demon
that would float around. Every time I would look at the mirror, I would hear it
saying words like "you are disgusting" and "you shouldn't
eat." I still deal with this issue, but the difference is that I'm better
at telling the voice to shut up. We are all going to have moments in life where
we aren't happy with our bodies, even when we reach that nirvana of body love.
And that's okay. We just have to be our brave selves and stand up against the
negativity. We have to say to those nasty demons that, "Yes I may have
cankles but right now I look hot and sexy in these jeans so I'm going to need
you to shut up while I'm having a good time." But some mornings you may
wake up and the demon can't be quiet. It'll say a lot of mean things to you,
but please don't let it consume you. Just ride it out. Ride out the negativity,
the shame, the guilt-whatever you are experiencing. It won't last, because
there's always tomorrow. And by then, you have all the time in the world to
figure out how to love yourself again.
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