C/O Yoohyun Park
How social media has been fuelling eating disorders and body image issues
cw: eating disorders, body dysmorphia, body image, self-harm
With today’s society being submerged in a world of social media that advertises bodies that are considered “norms,” it can be quite easy for one to feel down about their appearance. Today, it is not a shock when young teens decide to undergo procedures such as lip injections that are supposedly meant to look “natural.”
It begs the question: how can one be confident in their own body? We are constantly surrounded by images of individuals with body types that may be unachievable.
For example, the current ideal for a woman’s appearance is deemed as someone with big lips, a tiny nose, long hair, thin waist and an hourglass figure. And don’t forget — men need to be jacked, tall and strong.
In my own experience, it’s been interesting seeing the norms change in the media throughout the years. First, we had the Tumblr phase, in which eating disorders, self-harm and anorexia were considered the norm.
It was a competition of who had it worse and whoever did was the most “beautiful.” These were the standards around the same time I was in middle school.
Then Instagram came in. At first, it was lighthearted but as the years went on, it became more toxic.
With the rising popularity of editing apps such as FaceTune, it can become immensely difficult to discern what is real and what is fake.
Popular Instagram models and the Kardashian family have set a “norm” for what beautiful women should look like, even though their beauty may have been attained through personal training and cosmetic surgery.
Due to these overbearing images and social norms, the terms body positivity and body neutrality have become more and more prominent.
In a broad sense, body positivity is loving all bodies, no matter their size, race or anything in-between. Body neutrality is accepting your body — recognizing its remarkable abilities and non-physical characteristics instead of focusing on your physical appearance alone.
For example, let’s say I’m talking about my thighs. From a body positivity perspective, I love my thighs, cellulite and all. From a body neutrality lens, I would simply love my thighs because they help me walk.
While these terms have become more common and helped many, they’ve also negatively affected some people. The body positivity trend has also led to negative consequences such as skinny shaming, which need to be avoided if we truly desire to treat all bodies equally.
Our society also needs to understand that a certain body isn’t the picture of health and having another body type doesn’t mean you’re inherently unhealthy.
Being healthy is allowing yourself to eat what you’d like while balancing a lifestyle that allows you to receive all the nutrients you need. It’s learning how to take care of your mind and body. It’s creating healthy habits.
And it is okay to not love certain things.
It takes time — a lifetime, really. But be patient with yourself and the world and notice all the things that you were given, notice what they do and appreciate them. Practice gratitude towards yourself and others and everything else will slowly follow.
Ainsley Thurgood/Photo Assistant
Have you ever thought of treating yourself the way you treat others?
As individuals, even at a young age, we’re taught to have compassion for others. Every quote, motto and story that we learned revolved around the idea of showing kindness, respect and appreciation for our family, friends and superiors.
It may suffice to say that such emphasis was laid on these foundations because it was assumed that we knew how to extend these values to ourselves.
Even the infamous “golden rule” of treating others the way you’d like to be treated taught us to use ourselves as a benchmark for our behaviour to others. They never mentioned how exactly we establish this benchmark, let alone the fact that the rule implies that it can only be accomplished through the means of others.
It’s not a bad rule. In fact, the rule itself is beautiful. But it is only effective if you’re aware of your self-worth.
As we grew older, most of us became experts at the art of showing others compassion. When a friend feels upset about failing a test, we’re there to tell them how smart they are and when they’re feeling insecure about their outfit, we tell them how good they look.
I’m sure it’s obvious where I’m going with this, in that when similar situations arise for ourselves, how we respond is very different. Suddenly, we’re not smart enough to be sitting in a lecture hall and we wonder why the ogres haven't requested to have their faces back.
You’re free to call others talented, smart and beautiful, but if you dare say those things about yourself, it’s suddenly egotistical and morally repugnant.
There’s a kind of hypocrisy where social media expects you to constantly critique yourself and deflect compliments while simultaneously telling you that you’re “worthy and special in your own way.”
Why is it so hard to think positively and focus on the good things about ourselves?
For example, if we get 70 per cent on a midterm, we’re naturally more inclined to dwell on the 30 per cent of questions we got wrong rather than acknowledging the 70 percent we got correct.
Scientists tell us it’s due to a phenomenon known as the negativity bias, which implies an intrinsic asymmetry between using positive and negative information to navigate our lives. This can easily extend to our perceptions of ourselves, opting to hang on to the negative aspects instead of appreciating the positive.
Originally, this came from an ancestral survival instinct. In terms of survival, it was far more useful for our ancestors to take heed of negative stimuli rather than focusing on positive ones. It’s important to remind ourselves that what we’re doing here on Earth is no longer just surviving but that we have the luxury and right to live.
With that said, it ultimately comes down to the fact that we don’t trust ourselves. Even if there’s a moment where you believe yourself to be worthy, societal suggestions or even childhood experiences swiftly replace the feeling with doubt.
What’s more, society has thoroughly convinced us that we must look for external outlets to fulfil this void of love.
Whether this includes finding someone else to build you up, competing with others or becoming a perfectionist, these tactics will often fail since they are rooted in self-doubt.
Instead, we need to re-teach ourselves to look for fulfillment within. It’s not remotely realistic to attempt to block out all the negativity, but I can practically see the eye-roll if I tell you to embrace it.
Finding a middle ground where you simply
acknowledge your mistakes and alleged shortcomings is a start. It’s difficult to accept the good, bad and ugly parts of yourself, but unless we make an effort to do so, it will prove equally challenging to do the same for others.
If we daringly flip the saying and start to treat ourselves the way we treat others then perhaps we can finally learn to love ourselves the way we were always meant to.
Tucked away in the basement of the Hamilton Antique Mall (233 Ottawa St. North) is Dollywood Plus Vintage, a vibrant pink, Dolly Parton-bedecked, oasis of vintage fashion and body acceptance. It is owned and operated by Jessie Goyette, who is a vocal advocate for the plus size community. Last year, Goyette organized the Hamilton Plus Size Flea Market and received overwhelmingly positive feedback.
This past summer, Goyette applied for a booth in the Hamilton Antique Mall. She was accepted almost immediately, and she says the response has been incredible.
“I had people coming in and buying up everything. I had people messaging me, telling me how this is something that they’ve never seen before or been a part of and how there’s no spaces explicitly for plus size people that are run by independent folks in Hamilton, or even in the area in general. Especially focusing on vintage. That pushed me to keep doing it,” said Goyette.
While the body positive movement is slowly gaining traction, there are still many spaces that do not offer options for plus sized people. Having to choose from a tiny selection of ill-fitting clothing is all too common, particularly for anyone looking to express themselves through fun and innovative fashion. Additionally, having only plus-sized options reinforces the narrative that plus sized bodies should be hidden away. Dollywood Plus Vintage looks to battle that narrative through body acceptance and positivity.
“It isn’t just about clothes, and selling clothes. It’s about paying attention to a group of people that are just as deserving to express themselves the way they want to, and embody themselves in whatever way they choose,” said Goyette.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1RTIx3HZj3/
For Goyette, body positivity means celebrating plus-size bodies.
“I think fat bodies in particular are often devalued or seen as bad. It’s important to acknowledge that people with fat bodies are desirable and worthy of anything that anybody else with a body is. Regardless of their health, regardless of how you whether or not you perceive them to be living healthy or not, that doesn’t matter. I think it’s a human right to be able to express yourself and feel comfortable with who you are, and not be made to feel uncomfortable about the space you take up with your body,” said Goyette.
Going forward, Goyette plans to expand beyond clothing. Zines, buttons, patches and stickers are all in progress.
“I want to have different types of media, literature and art that explicitly speak to the experience of plus sized people in Hamilton,” said Goyette. She hopes that this will foster a sense of community and acceptance that isn’t always easy to find.
Dollywood Plus Vintage itself is bright and happy. Any spots not filled with unique clothes are covered with pictures of Dolly Parton, the Grammy award-winning country singer. The VHS copy of Steel Magnolias rests next to zines and patches. Goyette says that Parton’s song “Wildflowers” in particular speaks to her.
“Wildflowers are still really beautiful despite them not being the norm. They have the capacity to thrive and to overcome anything, regardless of where they are. That, to me, was something that carried over to the fat experience. Much like the wildflower, fat bodies are beautiful in their own way and are dynamic and able to bounce back from anything that society might throw at them,” said Goyette.
Dollywood Plus Vintage has only just begun, and if the initial response is anything to judge by, it will be around for a very long time. Goyette hopes that one day we will live in a world where there’s no need to have an article about a plus sized store because, hopefully by then, it will be so normal. Until then, Goyette’s store can be found in the basement of the Hamilton Antique Mall at stall 01L, and is well worth a look.
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By: Rachel Guitman - Women and Gender Equity Network
When you think about the Freshman 15, what comes to mind? For most people and for our culture at large, weight and food-related measurements carry heavy connotations.
While moving away from home to go to university, as I did when coming to McMaster, students undergo a huge life change that comes along with increased academic and personal responsibility. It is a difficult adjustment to make, and for some reason, we as a culture add the pressure of weight and eating control to the already challenging transition. Freshman 15 is a term laden with shame and negativity, and it paves the way to unhealthy, moral thinking about food. It implies that students have to watch what they eat for fear of gaining the dreaded Freshman 15.
I have often heard phrases such as, “It’s good that I’m going for a run to work that cake off.” Ingrained in that statement is the sentiment that dietary indulgence is somehow wrong, and therefore must be compensated for. The normalization of these statements is alarming, not least because it mimics the feelings involved in orthorexia and other eating disorders. On a larger scale, this sort of thinking reflects an intertwining of food and eating with morality in our culture. The life-sustaining act of eating should not have moral value. Why should certain foods be bad while certain are good? More importantly, why should we have to feel bad or good about eating certain things, when eating is a basic necessity?
Healthy eating in itself is a good thing, but healthy habits are a lifestyle rather than an arbitrary distinction of foods to feel guilty about eating and foods to feel proud of eating. Ascribing moral values to different foods often breeds an emotional roller coaster of guilt and proud self-denial, which is hardly a peaceful state of mind.
Perhaps more importantly, the positive and negative morality we associate with foods trickle into the way we view body types. We generally, and quite wrongly, assume that if one eats healthy, they will be reasonably thin. As well, we assume that people who are not thin or who don’t fit conventional ideas of what a healthy body looks like do not lead healthy lifestyles. The same judgement comes into play for the Freshman 15.
Such a postulation paves the way for moral judgement when it comes to body types. A fat person, even someone who gained 15 pounds, must simply be lazy and just needs to lead a healthier lifestyle. There is a lot of evidence, however, to show that this is largely not the case. For instance, research from Dr. Richard Atkinson, the editor of the International Journal of Obesity, unveiled the importance of genes in determining body size. In certain cases, genetic mechanisms completely overrode dietary habits. Moreover, it is important to consider how harmful it is to make moral judgements about a person’s body, particularly when they are negative judgements.
A paper by Samantha Thomas, a health sociologist at Monash University, states that “People living with obesity have been 'socially conditioned' to turn to diets for a cure for their obesity, and to blame themselves when diets fail.” The social attitudes that our culture holds towards overweight and obese individuals, and really those who have gained any weight at all, only serve to create shame and self-blame in these individuals.
This is not a constructive path to a healthy lifestyle. On the contrary, it is a demoralizing, discouraging situation. This kind of social conditioning not only assumes that weight loss is a necessary solution, but also discourages anyone who may be trying to achieve long-term weight loss. Is that what we want for students who already have so much on their plate at school?
Mac Alliance for Body Peace is a great initiative at McMaster working to combat these social ideals and promote wellness in a more holistic way. It is important to acknowledge, as the Mac Alliance for Body Peace does, that a strong, supportive community paves the way for its members living healthy lifestyles. If McMaster as a community can be kinder and create a space where body types and weights are not judged, we can all ultimately be better off.
Edward Lawlor
The Silhouette
“You need to eat more.”
As a tall, lanky teenager I have heard this one time too many. I have been openly criticized for my weight by peers, co-workers and even teachers. Today, there aren’t many people who would approach their overweight peers, co-workers or students and tell them to “hit the gym,” or “lay off the fries.” So why is it acceptable to tell someone they are not allowed to be thin? It seems that this age of self-love and size acceptance has left out one demographic: skinny people.
Now, before you angrily turn the page and curse the media for trying to tell you that “thin is in,” please read on. I do not represent any media entities. I am a sole person, trying to plead my case. It is no secret that the media often portrays only one body type as being ideal, and in doing so leaves everyone else feeling physically inadequate. In light of this unfair portrayal, many have spoken out against it. However, some have misdirected their dissatisfaction at thin people. One need only search “skinny hate” on the internet to observe this.
Often people who find themselves struggling with their weight will direct their unhappiness towards the thin individual. These same people will even go so far as to say “being thin is unattractive” or “I’d rather have curves than have people see my bones.” While these statements might have the intention to target the media, they in fact do more damage to those who are thin. It seems almost counter-intuitive, doesn’t it? In an attempt to reject the preference of one body type over another, they have done the exact opposite.
Now, I am not oblivious to the sad reality of eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia. They are awful afflictions, which no one should have to suffer through. But, there does exist a third reality: some of us are born thin. Whether it be hyper-active metabolisms, genes or simply fate, there exist humans who eat normally, but find it hard to gain weight. We should not be shamed for our naturally slender physique, the same way no one should be shamed for their naturally full-bodied physique.
Furthermore, the proverbial grass is not much greener here on the thin side of things. There are drawbacks attached to every body type, and ectomorphs are no exception. People often associate a lean figure with weakness, so it may come as no surprise that slender children and teens encounter bullying. I remember being made fun of for my weight (or lack thereof), throughout elementary and high school. Being called scrawny, bony and lanky subtly prompted me to wear long sleeves and pants constantly. I would refuse to leave my home without a sweater on, even in the summer heat for fear of being ridiculed. Shopping for clothes can be almost as discouraging, when pants won’t stay up and every outfit makes you look like a toddler playing dress-up. And being told by others that your gaunt frame is reflective of poor health is always disheartening.
To be clear, I am not scrounging for sympathy by stating the aforementioned facts. If they represent the peak of my bodily setbacks, I should count myself as fortunate. Nonetheless, it should be made known that being thin is not always beneficial.
I am not looking to spark a war against people who are not thin: I only wish to inform. Everyone has at one point had issues with their body, whether they be skinny, portly, lanky, curvy or somewhere in the middle. Truth buy discount cialis be told, there is nothing wrong with being naturally thin – some of us just are. Conversely, there is nothing wrong with being naturally full-bodied either – some of us just are. Keeping this in mind, let us celebrate body types from every point of the spectrum, not just our end.
