modern day female body ideal

 

'To all the girls that think you're fat because you’re not a size zero, You’re the beautiful one. It’s society who’s ugly.'

-Marilyn Monroe

She seduces us with her flawless skin, her full breasts and impossibly tight waist. We see this same figure over and over and over again. We begin to believe she is the epitome of beauty.

The only problem is, she is decorated. A virtual creation designed specifically for us.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I think our vision of how our bodies should look has been compromised. The media’s influence on our own personal definition of beauty has left some of us miserable, defaced and deflated.

We have turned to diets and surgeries and procedures. We need bigger breasts, softer skin, less fat. We shop endlessly for cosmetics and clothes that will never satisfy our need to fit the mold. 

Wow, corporations are making a ton of money on us. Interesting…

Taking a look at how the quintessential female figure has varied over time and place, can help us to let go of the unrealistic ideal that has been set for today.

Pop culture defines these molds that our disparate body types can’t all possibly fit into. And it's all for money.

We can extinguish the artificial prototype that has been set for us. All we need to do is change our way of thinking. It’s time to get unconditioned.

Let’s take back our bodies ladies! Let’s shed this unattainable perception of what a body should look like and come together as the powerful women that we are. If we start embracing our differences with confidence, we can show the world what we are truly made of…

Flawed and fabulous and perfectly human.

Comments

When I travelled through Europe, there were many beaches where I felt so comfortable, among the young and the old, free of inhibitions. I have never felt so secure in my own skin. It was freeing.

I am a reincarnation of twiggy. People tell me I am lucky, I can run and jump and shoot pool... but sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be Marilyn Monroe.

All of these 20th century images seem to depict only North American styles. Do our idealized lenses permeate other cultures, or do they have their own? It makes me want to travel more.