Body image

Whilst searching something completely unrelated on the internet today I stumbled across this picture. At first it made me laugh but then I realised that I've probably never seen a truer illustration. 

I'm not suggesting that all men look in the mirror and see a sexy hunk staring back but a lot of men do manage to look past their growing beer bellies and see themselves as God's gift to women. I know that this is a massive generalisation and there are thousands, if not millions, of men who struggle with their body image but the contrast of the male/female image in this picture is what makes it so striking. Not all people, male or female, look in the mirror and fail to see their beauty....some fail to see that they have let themselves go and need to maintain new levels of fitness. 

We live in a society that is controlled by the media. There are pictures and videos of scantily dressed women everywhere. In films, music videos, tv adverts, magazines, soap operas...we use half dressed women to sell everything....even to women. These women are always skinny, with perfect hair and perfect teeth and a gorgeous body. They are also normally extremely airbrushed, fake and have spent several hours in hair and makeup. But, even though we know this, it makes us feel inferior and it causes us to be extremely conscious of our own body image. 

Celebrity culture has a lot to answer for and with the ever shrinking size of the people we class as 'idols' the 'normal' people, doing the 'normal' every day jobs are being made to look as though we are getting fatter and fatter. If a size 10 woman appears on tv, she is instantly criticised (by ourselves!!!!!) for being overweight.....just because she isn't impossibly skinny like all other 'celebrities'..............that is how insane the world is becoming.

This picture is especially true for the majority of women. Most women look in the mirror and instantly focus on the 'bad' things about themselves. When we look in the mirror we tend to see a fatter and less attractive version of ourselves staring back. This isn't a true reflection but just our minds showing us what we expect to see, reflecting our insecurities rather than looking past our fears at our true image. 

We need to learn to take a step backwards and love our healthy bodies. To force ourselves to look in the mirror and recognise what we are really seeing; not to see only what our brain fears we will see. We need to take hold of our insecurities and not let our body image be controlled by the media. 

Easier said than done...I know!!!