Member- onlythemarginleft
- 3 years ago
I have recently been doing a lot of research about body image and self-worth, after watching the documantary “Embrace". I have found the topic to be intriguing, educational, infuriating and inspiring.
Many stats report that around 90% of women hate their bodies which is, somehow, simultaneously shocking and unsurprising.
I have started noticing far more when my family, friends, colleagues and patients make derogatory comments toward themselves. During almost every conversation I have with other women, they make comments about their supposed unattractiveness, hideousness or ineptitude, and most don’t even realise that they are putting themselves down. I have also seen a number of posts over time on WB, where the bee has basically said they feel they can’t do x activity because they feel too unattractive, or they have to postpone it until they look a certain way.
The other day, my sister sent me a message. She had been featured on a website due to some of her achievements, but all she could say about it was that she “looked like a potato" in the photo they chose. She was very upset about it. Spoiler: she looked absolutely gorgeous. And even if she hadn’t looked her best, the piece was celebrating the excellent things she has done, which are completely unrelated to her looks. She said that most of the time, she hates her body so much that it regularly impacts her ability to enjoy certain things in life, which absolutely broke my heart.
As I have previously mentioned here on The Bee, I personally struggled with severe body image, self-esteem and self-worth issues for years. I suffered with an eating disorder and self-harm because I disliked myself so deeply. Luckily, one day I just decided to start trying to look after myself and sought help. It wasn’t an immediate change, and I had to put a lot of work into learning to value myself apart from my appearence. However, I’m still unable to pinpoint exactly what initially flipped the switch for me.
Obviously, most people seem to be aware of the way that the media and hollywood are detrimental to the way beauty is percieved, but I have rarely seen this awareness inspire people to work on changing the way they view themselves.
Have any bees managed to improve their self-image/self-esteem? Is anybody currently struggling with it and need support?
This is a TED talk by the woman who made the documantary I mentioned.
