The notion of Ideal Body type is very apparent in today’s social media culture. We look at the perfect pictures of people on social media and feel inferior and less than constantly. There are influencers and celebrities with ‘perfect insta bodies’. A lot of people also post their workout journeys that they have undertaken to attain a particular type of body. It is important to be conscious about your health but it is now-a-days damaging to constantly feel less than perfect and not good enough. This in turn has started affecting the mental health of people especially youngsters who are constantly trying to look a certain way to gain validation and approval from their followers on social media.
The notion of Ideal Body Type
The idea of “the ideal body type” is frequently ingrained in pop culture. It occasionally shifts now and then. However, many people’s daily lives are severely impacted by these pervasive and dynamic norms, particularly students who are already dealing with personal challenges during this vulnerable time in their lives. Since a lot of celebrities put unattainable weight requirements on us, we need to understand that there will never be an “ideal body type” that fits these always-changing criteria. The girl you saw at the mall and thought was ideal most likely wept herself to sleep, obsessing over her waist size because it didn’t fit the typical hourglass form of 32-24-32. Thin eyebrows were fashionable a time back. But as the Kardashians have become more popular, people have been seen spending money on brow pencils to make their eyebrows appear bigger. Although there is some grey area when it comes to body image, most people fall into one of two categories: those who are satisfied with their bodies or those who are not.
How Bullying occurs due to body Image stereotypes
Some students on campus draw attention to their peer’s alleged flaws as a means of overcoming their fears, or perhaps because they are just foolish, rude bullies. My acquaintance was informed that she had a lot of mustache hair. This is meant to be offensive because girls in our society are frowned upon for even the smallest hint of upper lip hair. Her boyfriend then made fun of it as well. She was uncomfortable with this and expressed it openly. However, she was unable to overcome the residual self-doubt, and ever since, she has been subjected to the agony of having the hair on her top lip plucked.
Although a large number of people are happy with their appearance, some people have problems with how they see themselves. These unfavourable opinions may affect your mental and physical well-being. We’ll go over the four components of body image, how cultural norms impact body image, and some advice on maintaining a positive body image.
Body dissatisfaction versus body acceptance
Learning to accept your body for what it is the essence of body acceptance. Acceptance entails understanding and respecting your body, even though you may occasionally rejoice in it as well as suffer with it. Unpleasant thoughts and feelings related to your body image are a part of body dissatisfaction, often known as negative body image. This dissatisfaction is typically a skewed perception of how you feel or seem. Due primarily to societal conventions, women generally have a worse perception of their bodies than males.
Sadly, these unfavorable sentiments and ideas often begin early in life. In primary school, almost half of the girls worry about their weight or that they will get obese, according to the National Eating Disorders Association. If a child experience bullying at school due to their looks or if their family struggles with weight, they are more likely to struggle with body image issues.
Being the first plus-size model in the history of the Miss Universe competition, Miss Nepal Jane Dipika Garrett made history. Ellie Goldstein, a model with Down syndrome, was one of the models in a 2020 Gucci beauty campaign that celebrated the beauty of variety.
As diversity increases in popular culture and advertising campaigns, standards of beauty will change to recognise and honour each person’s unique beauty. The idea of the ideal body type will disappear and acceptance of all body kinds will grow with increased representation of people with all skin tones, body types, hair types, and so forth. In light of that, let’s hope that lipstick comes in more hues that complement a variety of skin tones and more sizes on mall racks.
By: Gursharan Kaur