The notion of beauty related to humans is so fluid and yet rigid. Whilst others perceive human beauty to be a particular body size and shape, some understand it to be particular aesthetic pleasing features associated to the body. All these notions, understanding and perceptions of beauty stem from environment, society, family, culture and media definitions of beauty which ultimately leads individuals to think positively or negatively on thoughts and feeling about their physique.
The western world perpetuates the idea that an attractive person has to be slim or thin, tall, light skinned long hair, big breasts, high cheek bones and muscles in men. The western notion of beauty has lot of similarities with the Asian notion of attractiveness. They also associate beauty to short and slender looking women with pale skin, double eyelids, a high nose bridge and a small face where as the men's standard is to have good and clear skin, not being overly muscular and certain personality traits like kindness and attentiveness. unlike the Western and Asian cultures, the African culture has a different standard of beauty. women are expected to be curvaceous, have tiny waist, white teeth and a more recent feature is being fair. whilst the men do not have any standards in particular except to be financially stable. the one thing all these three cultures have in common is the definition of beauty through the male gaze, basically what men see as desirable.
In attempts and desperation to fit into the frame of beauty society expects, some women turn to continually starving themselves through extreme diets and taking pills which they believed can help them shed off weight. The most recent efforts are undergoing medical procedures which can sometimes be life threatening. whilst it can help women gain their confidence and feel comfortable within their bodies, there is a wonder that had these procedures not be introduced, wouldn't more people be forced to embrace their body types?
It is exceptionally positive and motivating to see that celebrities and certain individuals have taken to social media to state that our bodies should be embraced and not shamed with emphasis on the fact that all bodies are different in shapes and sizes and so would be unreasonable to subject all bodies to a particular ideal. whilst some bodies are naturally curvy, others are naturally slender and other are mixture of both depending on body parts. Embracing our unique individual bodies will not only help us be more confident in our selves but also put an end to unhealthy eating habits which can lead to obesity or anorexia. these links provide more information surrounding body positivity and fat shaming in today's society. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBEpOOlhNVQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EPnNOlxF8M. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBEpOOlhNVQ
The message in general is very simple and clear, unless you find yourself in a position clinically known as obese or anorexic, embrace yourself, eat healthily and exercise regularly instead of resorting to unhealthy solutions in order to fit in society's definition of beauty and attractiveness. #youareuniquelyyou. #bodypositivity. #healthfirst #changingnegativeperceptions.