Weight/fat/diets/body image/slimming etc….‘it’… has been part of my life for as long as I can remember.
Now I have a daughter of my own, I am really conscious and super-aware of just how often the whole issue is discussed in our family. It’s usually one of the first things we say on greeting each other…(we may not have seen each other for months!). Conversation always comes round to it in the end. We have either, ‘put on a few pounds…you want to take care’ or ’you’re looking a bit skinny…don’t overdo it’!
We have been having these same conversations for years and years. ‘I really am gonna lose weight’, ‘I really must get fit’, ‘I’ve started on the xyz diet’ etc, etc. In fact, I can’t imagine what a non-weight orientated family talk about.
It has affected over the years, my confidence, my self-esteem, my choices, my moods. At times I have wanted to be invisible, to hide away from society, as if I am less worthy than a ‘normal’ person.
Ridiculous! Now I am older and hopefully wiser, I can see a lot of it for what it is. Why did I not believe it when I was told you are beautiful as you are? Why did I not think life could be wonderful, even if I wasn’t a stick thin model? Why did I buy into the family ‘curse’ and refuse to get sucked in?
So now, I have decided not to buy into it any more…if only for the sake of my children. Already my 8 year old daughter thinks she is fat. It broke my heart to hear it…..she is the most beautiful, vibrant,healthy, awe-inspiring child you could hope to meet. Yet, she already thinks she is fat!
So, this is a plea for help!
How do I go about completely changing my perception of body image? How do I buck the family trend? How do I go about filling my beautiful daughter with the things she should be hearing? How do I boost her self-esteem and confidence, coming from where I do? (Not exactly the best role model!)
Any answers gratefully received!
I wish I had an answer for you, unfortunately I’m neither qualified or experienced in this subject.
I’m a professional photographer, I interact with women from all walks of life. Models, mothers, daughters, brides, teenagers. I do resonate with you on how important self-image and confidence is. As some would say, self confidence is the new sexy!
I’m a big believer in visual communication. Some links that comes to mind you could show your daughter are :
Dove’s campaign for beauty. Very popular viral video of society’s perception of beauty and reality.
http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.com/home_films_evolution_v2.swf
and
A book and HBO serie by my colleague Lauren Greenfield. It chronicles the treatment of four women as they struggle to overcome eating disorder.
http://www.laurengreenfield.com/thinNEW.html
Hello Matt C,
Good to hear from you.
The Dove clip that you provide is really emotive…I just wanna chuck ragu and lots of it at the final product, it’s just so damn maddening!
The Dove clip that really got me was this one…on their self-esteem kick I think:
http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.com/commercial.asp?src=InsideCampaign_commercial
It just makes me cry! But then I get a little too emotional sometimes.
Dove seem to be doing a good job…but they’ve got a lot of money to be made! Was that very cynical?
I will check out the laurengreenfield site too…thank you.
Cheers Phoenix71011
AKA Sarah
[...] 23 02 2007 In my post Distortion, I was talking about the difficult dilemma faced by parents in the quest to raise healthy, [...]
Weight loss challenge
Please use this site to lose weight. It’s useful for your health and beauty.