First off I want to state that I’m all for women
empowerment, but shouldn’t empowerment first start with us as women empowering
each other? Meaning that shouldn’t we start accepting each woman as they are?
One of my biggest pet peeves about this generation is the ad going around stating
“real women have curves.” You all know which one I’m talking about, the one
that states that all women aren’t stick perfect models who are 6 foot tall and
have the figure of a little boy and “REAL WOMEN” have a butt, boobs, and a
little cushion around their bones. I know the ad is meant to empower us women
who may not have the “perfect” body to embrace it because model type women
aren’t “real”. Here’s my problem with
it… all women are REAL women because they are all WOMEN! Now I’ll admit that
for years I wished to have a stick figure body, but that’s just never going to
happen with me. I was made with a 5’2” frame, a butt, and a body that tones to
muscle not bone and no matter how much I denied it or put down another woman, I
wasn’t going to grow 10 more inches and get the all too coveted thigh gap. It
took me awhile to accept this, but when I appreciated that my body is MY body,
flaws and all, it made proud of everything my body has been through and that’s
what makes me unique. I think that the sooner we accept our bodies as OURS then
the happier we will become and the real empowerment will begin.
The phase the “grass is always greener on the other side” is
a perfect quote for what us women really need to address. One of my best
friends is the typical example of the 6 foot, model-like beauty, I was always
jealous of her body and her ability to eat anything without it showing on her
hips. One day she shocked me when we were hanging out, she told me “you know something?
I’ve always been jealous of your petite body and wish I could shrink a few
inches to be smaller” I couldn’t believe what I just heard come out of my model
best friend’s mouth. She further explained that she hated being so freakishly
tall and having a metabolism the speed of light because it was impossible for
her to gain any weight and she wanted a butt or any curves for that matter.
Going back to this “real women have curves” ad, what do you
think it does to girls like my best friend, who were born with figures like
little boys? If the ad is supposed to empower women, then why does it isolate a
group of women who are just as “real” as the rest of us? The advertisement
should say “real women are all women” because no matter what body you were born
with, it’s just as real as the next girl’s body next to you. If we are so quick
to blame our genes for making us fat then why can’t we accept the fact that
some genes makes us naturally thin? Putting down other women who aren’t the same
as us by saying things like:
“that’s not natural, she probably has an eating disorder”
“go eat a sandwich”
“no real man would want to date a twig”
“too skinny, obviously photo shopped”
Nothing irks me more than women bashing other women. Isn’t
the media hard enough on us as it is without the pressures of our peers? Although
this ad was meant to be a positive thing, I think that it has done more harm than
good. Who are we to use a catchphrase in order to make us feel more superior
than another? I think that all women have their own ideal body, a body image
which is usually the complete opposite of the one that we were born with. So who
creates this “perfect” body and why is it shaped to be something that we can’t achieve?
We are bombarded from little girl’s to adulthood of how our bodies should look and
the ones we are usually attracted to are the ones that is impossible for us to
become. For example what makes a 5’2” girl want to look like a runway model with
boobs, when her best friend who could be the runway model want to look like the
5’2” girl next door?
A REAL WOMAN
OH LOOK ANOTHER REAL WOMAN
AND ANOTHER REAL WOMAN
YES VS SUPERMODELS ARE REAL WOMEN TOO
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