amalgam \uh-MAL-guhm\, noun:
1. An alloy of mercury with another metal or metals; used especially (with silver) as a dental filling.
2. A mixture or compound of different things.
Today is international no diet day, a celebration I had never heard of until I became involved with the FA movement. There are so many great causes out there to celebrate and support, but I sincerely believe that for the sake of people everywhere, this day,and this cause, are paramount.
I interact with hundreds of females every day, and I see how much variety there is among just those women – I can barely fathom the tremendous variation among all women around the world. It is truly sad that one of the factors that most strongly unites us is unhappiness about our bodies.
Walk up to virtually any woman and ask her about her body and you will universally receive a scowl in reply – if it isn’t her weight she is unhappy with, it is the shape of her hips or her ankles or the length of her eyelashes – it seems we lack no creativity in the scope of our self-hatred. Even worse, we criticize each other and any woman who dares accept herself, nevermind love and celebrate herself, is called a bitch, or worse.
I once asked the put forth a question in a community of women I am a part of – what would happen if tomorrow morning everyone woke up and stopped hating herself? The answers I got shocked me to the core. Most women talked about how terrible it would be – how we would all “let ourselves go” and how unhealthy we would all become, as if the end of self-hatred would mean a neverending diet of ice cream and potato chips, and none of us would ever get up off the couch, or even out of bed, according to what those women were saying. It strikes me as backwards and disturbing that so many women view self-hatred, shame, and external pressures about their opinions as a primary motivator to take care of themselves. It also disturbs me that so many women view restriction diets as “good” and giving their bodies the food they need as “bad”.
So many women, with so many strengths, and so much beauty. We could be so strong, but instead we find connected in this hatred that we all share, and it makes us weak. It is indeed a topsy-turvy world.
My thin friends complain about their bodies as much or more than my curvy friends. I think that’s pretty telling.
I really can’t fathom the idea of someone picking apart her appearance, dividing herself into body parts, and then rating those parts on some arbitrary acceptance scale. Why would people spend so much time and energy on hating their own bodies? I just… don’t get it. And I feel sad for these women.
[...] at My Improvisational Life posted a tidbit that I found especially disappointing and revealing: I once asked the put forth a question in a [...]