Teresa Prince
“Oh
my gosh you guys; I hate my stomach!”
“Are
you kidding? My stomach is way bigger
than yours!”
“So,
look at my butt, it’s huge!”
The
above conversation is not a lament heard at Weight Watchers conventions, nor is
it the sickening whinings of anorexic models.
Versions of this conversation can be heard all around Marian. Even in the locker rooms, girls who work out
every day in their respective sports are still unhappy with their shape.
It
amazes and distresses me that no one seems to be happy with their body. Medium sized girls wish they could be
thinner, thin girls wish they could be even skinnier, and girls who are really
skinny still aren’t pleased. Two years
ago at a Prep dance a group a girls ran up to their friend and proclaimed how
cute she looked. She scoffed at the
flattery and stated that she really wanted to take the fat from her butt, and
put it in her chest, then she would look good.
That sounded so utterly ridiculous, but one of her friend simply agreed
with her.
Why
are girls so obsessed with being perfect?
The media is often accused, with good reason. Every time I check my e-mail on yahoo I am faced with
advertisement for the Atkins Diet.
Today’s portrays a happy woman in a bathing suit skipping about. Next to her is the text “I love my
body. I DO ATKINS.” It irks me that they suggest medium sized
people hate their bodies and should be ashamed. May be I’m just taking it too seriously; after all they have a
right to advertise however they want. I
have the power to scoff at them.
It
is depressing to watch any TV show or movie, or look at any magazine and see
only beautiful thin women. Keep in mind
many of these actresses’, singers’, and model’s careers depend on looking this
way. They have to spend most of their
time perfecting themselves physically, which is perfectly fine for them. For girls with seven classes, family lives,
part-time jobs, and extra-curriculars, physical perfection is hardly possible,
but it’s a tantalizing goal that many girls dream of anyway.
Active
teenage girls are for the most part, in their prime shape and health. Trying to lose an extra five pounds and drop
one pants size can be a practical goal, but it shouldn’t cause anyone a lot of
grief. As long as one’s weight is healthy
it should not be a cause for concern.
Listen to the Buddha and find the middle way. Don’t eat all the puppy chow you can afford and get your daily exercise from a few trips up the stairs, but don’t run six miles, eat a miserly salad, and lament over your water-retaining body.