As thoroughly discussed in my previous post “The Power to Alter Yourself,” the ideal of “perfection” is strived for by every individual. People often feel like they are inadequate and do not meet the expectations of these new “fads” exemplified to people online. The interesting thing about body-related fads, is that the extremes they often reflect and encourage are anything but healthy. An extreme of anything is not healthy. It is important to be balanced, in every connotation of the word. Just as hairstyles change with every decade, body-related fads do too. Fads are temporary and the current ideas society holds regarding what the “ideal bodies” look like will also change with time (lets pray).

Social media has manipulated peoples health in two ways; it encourages some individuals to become extremely thin, and it encourages others to become overweight or “thick.” I understand that every individual’s body is made differently and uniquely. In this digital age, social media influences both males and females to physically alter themselves. Unhealthy body ideals have become a norm; in fact, being unhealthy is encouraged in both the extreme of being morbidly obese and the extreme of being stick-thin.

Online “body-positivity” movements have continued to negatively influence people into acceptance of living in and with an un-healthy physique. They have swept through social media faster than the black plague swept through Europe. Countless accounts, blogs and posts are being produced every day which encourage people to “accept” their bodies. In reality, people are glamorizing their decaying health. I hold the position that extreme body standards are not healthy and they should not be accommodated for, let alone encouraged or accepted.

One movement I particularly disagree with is called the, “What I Be Project.” Many celebrities and universities have shown support toward this movement. Its Instagram and Facebook accounts biographies state the following… “building security through insecurities…etc.” The movement entails people writing words relating to their insecurities (bodily and otherwise) on their bodies using permanent markers, then posting those images on social media platforms. The idea of acknowledging personal shortcomings is not what I disagree with. If anything, I think that that aspect of this body-positivity movement is actually a great thing, because it forces people to acknowledge the things they desire to change about themselves and their lives: one can’t change the things they don’t first acknowledge. The message of this movement is what particularly ruffles my feathers.

It is important to remember that no one is perfect. However, I do not believe or agree that members of society should “build our own security” (as stated in the accounts biography) through seeing posts about other peoples insecurities and struggles. Our viewing of others announcing their personal insecurities and hurt should not make us feel “secure” or better about ourselves. The idea of getting joy from seeing reflections of other individuals emotional pain is sickening to me. I believe that, if we want to help others feel better about themselves and their appearances, we needs to start by working on ourselves first. We can not pull a person out of a deep ditch if we are in that same ditch. We can’t help heal someone from the flu, when we too have the flu. I believe that we should accept, acknowledge and fix our own flaws in order for us to be able to share our triumphs. We should use our personal triumphs of overcoming to inspire others to make positive changes in their own lives, rather than sharing our insecurities to make other people feel less terrible about themselves.

I would say that this is the main reason I don’t support “body positivity” movements; they entail that we are (whether consciously or not) encouraging others to continue living in a physical state that is aiding in the deterioration of that persons well-being. Many people will likely disagree with my stance on this issue, but I truly believe that we can not support these movements if we have self-improvement that needs to be done on ourselves first…and we all have some. Once we heal ourselves of our physical and mental un-wellness’, we should work towards helping others in their own self-improvements, rather than expressing our “support” to those who are consciously choosing denial and laziness over the beneficial change they need to improve their lives and health. By supporting these groups, we are not only jumping in on the band-wagon of denying our own lack of self-confidence and drive, but we are also helping others do the same thing. By doing so, we are helping others become comfortable, and no one can grow and/or improve in a comfort zone.

I hold the position that obesity is one of the biggest problems the United States is currently facing. Not only is it linked to depression, suicide and countless health problems, but it is also one of the leading causes of death nation-wide (not obesity in itself, but the health complications that it can lead to). I believe that social media platforms and “body-positivity” movements are to blame for the skyrocketing rates of obesity. When most of us turn on our phones, we are automatically inclined to open one of our many social media applications. The majority of the time, we don’t consciously think about opening these apps, rather we click on them out of habit.

Scientific experiments have found that when we use social-media applications, a “feel good” chemical called dopamine gets released into our brains. This very chemical is also released when we eat. We respond to this chemical release in the same way that a dog would be more likely to sit if he was offered a treat every time he did so. Dopamine is our “treat” for using social media and eating. As a result, we are far more prone to accept ideals portrayed to us online, because the “feel good” stimulus of social media gives us a natural high which makes us (temporarily) feel good. We return again and again just to find that we aren’t living up to the ideals visually portrayed to us online. Disappointed, we turn to food as an emotional shoulder to lean on. It becomes a subconscious habit, and the cycle continues to repeat itself.

A negative aspect regarding “body-positivity” movements, is that they indirectly encourage extremes (whether it be the extreme of obesity or the extreme of thinness). Having a big butt and a small waist is one new fad. People are highly influenced by the idea of having bottoms like those of the Kardashian-Jenner reality-television-star family. Just like these reality tv stars, people are going to the extremes of purposefully inserting silicon into their bottoms and/or purposefully eating extreme amounts of food in order to try and achieve this “thick” look that they see is receiving positive feedback online. We all want positive feedback, because positive feedback comes with…*drum roll please*…more dopamine!

Ingesting and inserting toxins into the human body (whether is be through food or silicon) is far from healthy. Overweight girls walk around as if they are proud that they had just won the biggest “body positivity contest” of the year. Obesity is not healthy and its acceptance through body-positivity platforms should not be encouraged by our support. It comes down to this…denial of ones deteriorating health is not beautiful. Neither are eating disorders that lead to extreme thinness, which is another extreme fad society is encouraged to conform to. They are ways to kill oneself. It is unfortunate that society has continued to idolize and glamorize these harmful beauty ideals and it is unfortunate that we encourage others to accept and “love” their lack of mental and physical health.

On the other end of the weight spectrum, having an unhealthy, un-natural, looking body has continued to trend in the fashion industry and in the general public. Stick thin girls walk around malls like wanna-be Victoria Secret Models who are about to faint from malnutrition the day before their big show. Being so skinny is not good for ones physical or mental health. Eating disorders are a huge problem in America and they are not given enough attention. This is a very touchy subject for me, but I struggled with anorexia for nearly three years in the past. I am grateful to have overcome it, however, I do wish I was more open about sharing my experience (and struggle) sooner, because with acceptance came healing for myself and for those I shared my overcoming with.

I believe that eating disorders are more wide-spread than people even realize. Individuals claim that their obesity (or self proclaimed “thick” look) is “healthy” and that their sizes (be them any sizes) are “beautiful,” when in reality, they both signify self-denial and/or rejection. Speaking from personal experience, most people with eating disorders don’t admit they have, or had, one until after they have, or had, overcome it. They may state things like, “I’m super thin because of my metabolism” or “I eat more than anyone I know,” as a form of consciously denying that there is, or was, ever a problem. It is easy to blame problems on anyone/anything but oneself and it is even easier to make excuses to justify something that everyone knows is not healthy. It is far easier to turn to titles such as “body-acceptance” and “self-love” to justify ones poor health, rather than accepting that there is an issue and getting help to overcome it. Excuses don’t change the fact that something needs changing.

I truly believe that body positivity is an excuse that un-motivated people use in order to justify the fact that they are lazy and that they are letting themselves deteriorate. By saying “yes” to being “thick,” “twig-thin,” or by showing support for “body positivity” movements, we are saying “no” to balanced health, physical, and mental well-being. As previously mentioned, I do not think that actions of people adopting either of these lifestyles should be socially accepted or encouraged; their weight, or lack there-of, should not be accommodated for (with the exception of people who have health related issues that complicate these factors).We are hurting others with our so-called “supporting” of their expressions of “body-positivity” (that is, if they are obviously obese or excessively skinny), because then people become more comfortable in their toxic states instead of consciously choosing to make healthy, balanced, lifestyle changes.

In other words, we help escalate the health-problems of others, because we are feeding them positivity through our “support” of their less-than-healthy physiques. When the un-well person goes online and views all the nice comments about their self-mistreated body, they become more self-accepting and they continue denying that there is, or was ever, a problem that needs fixing. Therefore, more dopamine gets released in their brains, they scroll through social media more and more looking for self-confirmation and justification, and they eat more as a result. More dopamine leads to increased binge eating and/or purging. There comes a point when society will have dug itself such a deep grave, that it will never be able to get out of it.

Both thick and thin people may also blame their physical states on their genetic “issues.” Many people will disagree with me on this (which is totally ok- we can agree to disagree) but I truly believe that “body positivity” is simply a lazy excuse for not wanting to put in the effort it takes to maintain ones basic health. It is an excuse to justify not working out and eating healthy in order to lose ones obese status. It is also an excuse to justify a persons laziness and denial to get the help they need to overcome eating disorders that lead to dangerously thin physiques. More often than not, body positivity is used as an excuse to justifies ones lack of willpower, self confidence, acceptance of ones issue, or the acknowledgement of a persons lack of mental and physical wellness. This is why I am so unsupportive of the “body positivity” movements online.

X-rays prove that overweight people are not “big boned,” and anorexic people are not “naturally thin.” All people have the same underlying structure. However, some people have more laundry over their washboard abs than others do. It is not a matter of genetics, rather it is a matter of personal motivation and ones perception of self. Neither of these fads are healthy and they are both problems people are too ashamed and/or prideful to face and resolve. Neither thin nor thick people show support for body positivity movements due to being confident in themselves; they do so out of their lack of self confidence and their denial. One can not change the things he or she is unwilling to accept. Instead of people working toward improving their physical-selves and becoming balanced physically and mentally, people make excuses to justify their lack of self-confidence and will power, and they turn to labeling their poor health as “beautiful,” because the word generally has a positive connotation. Whether it be something like anorexia or binge-eating, no disorder is healthy and no disorder is “beautiful.”

In correlation with societal acceptance and accommodation for peoples lack of wellness, there has been a significant increase in the number of plus-sized clothing stores and an even broader range of extra-small clothing sizes available to people around shopping centers nation-wide. In my opinion, by providing and manufacturing more and more very large clothing clothing sizes to morbidly overweight people (who do not have a diagnosed medical condition), we are leading unhealthy people to adopt the idea that they are “healthy enough” and that no change needs to be made. Social media has made obesity become a norm.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, some clothing stores not hold triple-zero sized jeans for females. With such a small figure, one has no business shopping in adult clothing sections in the first place. We are not children anymore, however, society encourages a large number of individuals to conform to the bodies they had back as young, skinny children. Clothing manufacturing of extremely small sizes has correlation to the increasing prevalence of eating disorders. People don’t feel as “guilty” for their poor health as one result of having such easy access to unreasonable large and extra small clothing options. Anorexic and obese people no longer have to go out of their way in order to find clothes to accommodate their figures. I believe this is a problem, because it subconsciously tells these people that their unhealthy physiques are “acceptable,” “normal,” and “healthy enough.”

These body positivity movements don’t help in any way, because they continue to glamorize disorders and laziness. Our society has become so accustomed to adopting the beauty-ideals of being both “thick” and “twig-thin.” In the long run, it will have a negative impact on the population and the quality of peoples lives, because people are choosing to deny their health and mental-related issues and justify them using seemingly positive connotations. People are literally killing themselves and thinking it is “cool” and “acceptable.” There needs to be balance instead of denial. Body positivity is not cool…it is destructive to oneself and to others. Neither “thick,” nor “twig-thin” is healthy. Extremes of any kind are unhealthy for ones body and mind. A balanced life and a balanced body is healthy.