Body image will not be an issue if people will not idolize ideal body
“The best gift you are ever going to give someone — the permission to feel safe in their own skin.” – Hannah Brencher
To feel good about one’s own body and shape is a basic human right. How a person looks, weighs, what skin colour they have is not something they have control over since birth and is surely not something that should matter to people. But as we know, people have unrealistic expectations around the body, and even police their ideas of ideal bodies on their children. This starts from the very first step of pointing out the colour tone of a child. So we thought of listing the things that should be normalized around body image when you are younger, because obviously if you will not be taught imposed ideas of ‘perfect body’ you will not idealize a perfect body.
7 things that should be normalized around body image when you are younger
1. An open conversation about the body
Children are often kept deviant of the functions of their bodies. Of course, they can’t digest all the information about the body at once, but they deserve an open conversation. A child should be taught rightly about the body when they are younger instead of letting them infused to wrong information like that of ‘boobs are ugly’.
2. Nobody colour has the perfect colour
Children, from a very early stage, are given nicknames like ‘kalu’ if they are dark-skinned. They are often asked by their parents to apply skin whiteners and herbal beauty products to make their skin look whiter. Well, there’s no harm in asking so if it’s for healthy skin, but otherwise, the idea that people need to look white and glowing is a flawed idea.
3. Body Hair is not a problem
Body hair is often considered ugly. Remember the nannies who run dough on an infant’s skin to take off all the body hair roots? Well, that’s because body hair is not considered normal. Especially for girls, hairs on the body are considered ugly.
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4. Strive for a healthy body and not for the right shape
A healthy body should always be a goal but the intent for the same should not be sugar-coated with the intent of obtaining the ideal shape and size. One must always try to work out to have a sound body, physically and mentally.
6. Focussing on body neutrality
Body neutrality is a concept that emphasises what the body will do for you rather than how it seems. One must be taught, ever since childhood to gratify their bodies for what it does for you. One must be taught to be thankful to the body for making them be functional, instead of criticizing it on the basis of shape and size.
7. Beauty is not defined by the body of a person
Beauty is something that pleases the senses, and it can’t always be defined by how a person looks like. A child, from a very early age, should be taught to be beautiful from within. They should be taught about the values that make a person beautiful instead of imposing physical beauty standards.
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