Body Image

Recently, social media and society has seen an increased awareness when it comes to topics like LGBT awareness and gender equality. However, there's still one glaring issue that's slid through the cracks....body image. More importantly, body shaming.

Its 2015, and its still seen okay too shame someone for how they look, their appearance, etc. This goes both ways when it comes to body shaming, judging people on both sides of the spectrum (from comments like "eat a sandwich", to "you should work out"), and just looks in general.

In society, there's a perceived notion of what a perfect body looks like for each gender. For a woman, not too thin, but not too big, with just the right curves. For a man, certainly not thin, but tall and muscular. The majority of this post though will be focusing on female body image.

When it comes to female body image, the "perfect" body is seen everywhere; the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, Victoria Secret Models, runway and fashion models. I could cite far more examples, but the point is that these images are plastered everywhere across all media platforms. For example, we saw the cover of this year's SI Swimsuit magazine unveiled on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.  We've also seen plenty of media coverage of New York City's "fashion week". Its not hard to understand how these become the target/standard-bearer for plenty of young woman. However, most celebrities don't fits these "supermodel" standards.

First, we have the Oscar and 10x Grammy winning British singer Adele. She's told the media she rarely thinks about body image, and doesn't want to be a "skinny-minny". However, that hasn't stopped people from obsessing over her body.

Next, 4x Grammy winning British singer and songwriter Sam Smith. During one of his acceptance speeches at the 2015 Grammy's, Sam Smith said "I was doing everything to try and get my music heard. I tried to lose weight and I was making awful music. It was only until I started to be myself that the music started to flow...". This is the pressure that artists face, focusing on their image instead of their talent.

Now the main reason I wanted to do this post, original American Idol and 3x Grammy winner Kelly Clarkson. She recently released her first new album (Piece by Piece) since 2011. In the meantime, she's released a greatest hits album, christmas record and is now a proud mother. However, that hasn't stopped some hack tabloid writer(s) (1 especially who will remain nameless here) and social media trolls from commenting on her appearance. I won't pretend to know everything behind the scenes, but Kelly has said publicly that it was rough pregnancy (resulting in morning sickness that was so severe it required hospitalization).  Kelly has responded to criticism saying that she's okay with what she's got, and that if the public doesn't like it, they can move on (an attitude I wish more artists had).

As pointed out with these 3 examples, artists seemingly have to worry about more than just their talent. They worry about their image and style. All that should matter are their own vocal talents. Whether its how one looks or dresses, all that should matter is one's confidence, and not the public's perception. Just in general, we should let people express and simply be themselves, and stop forcing them into a bubble.

Whether its runway looks or swimsuit models, those looks shouldn't be what we strive for. We need to stop airbrushing ourselves, and focus on our positive qualities, what makes us unique.

Lets put an end to body shaming.


"Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not look out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it" - Bruce Lee