A Piece of Zoe

The pressure's on

I've wanted to write a post about female teenage weight pressure for some time now but hesitated as I didn't know from which angle I should approach it. Nevertheless, I have experienced it personally and know that many can relate to the topic, so here goes. 

I would like to start by saying that calling someone 'anorexic' or 'too skinny' is as bad as calling someone 'fat'. They are both degrees of comparison which imply that people are not fine the way they are. One is not worse than the other. But for this post I will be talking specifically about perceptions of being 'too fat' and teenage weight-pressure. 

Let's get down to the o' natural part of it all, shall we? Genes - we cannot help the way our bodies have been created. We are all born a specific way; some of us inherit a fast metabolisms and naturally thin genes while others are born with metabolisms slower than that of a snail and chubby genes. Yet I believe very strongly that these factors do not determine whether or not we reach our goal weight- they simply aid or make it harder for us. 

When you page through a magazine, what do you see?

I'll give you a brief run through my personal process...
First, I look at the cover- the glossy picture of the chosen celebrity. She looks so "perfect", I think to myself... her hair so wavy and effortless, her skin so flawless and angelic and her face so angular with a jawline women would kill their spouses for. Then comes her body... I notice how she has such a tiny waist yet breasts so "perfectly" large, not to mention her flat washboard stomach. Her arms appear "perfectly" toned and her legs go on forever.

(current thoughts: 'why can't I be like her?')

Then we get to the 'embarrassing pictures' section- a spread aimed at exploiting the imperfections of celebrities ostensibly aimed at making me (the reader) feel "better"- how oblivious they are, all it does is make me feel worse. After seeing the snapshots, I now wonder whether I have hidden cellulite or a saggy behind, flabby arms or extra fat on my stomach. Moreover it makes me believe that if I do, people will judge me the same way they deride these celebrities. 

(current thoughts: 'these are celebrities! imagine what imperfections I must have!')

Then we hit my personal favourite: the 'praise page': dedicated to giving congratulatory notices to so called "perfect", best-dressed A-list celebrities. There are 10 pictures of women in form-fitting, size 2 dresses and stiletto heels with captions implying that these images portray the best a women can be. 

(current thoughts: 'FUCK')

It wasn't always like this you know...we didn't care as much when we were younger, scales were just strange, square machines with numbers on that our mothers had in their bathrooms. The more chocolate cake we ate, the better. And mirrors didn't make us cry. 
But then we hit 13 or so and it all changed: we started meeting boys and got competitive with one another, comparing ourselves to other girls and starting to judge and feel judged, like we constantly needed to be skinnier and skinnier in order to be 'pretty'.


Feeling pressured about weight can be poisonous and damaging:

You feel fat
You feel helpless
You feel ugly
You feel uncomfortable
You feel like nothing suits you
You feel like everyone is prettier and thinner than you
You feel like being the weight with which you would feel happy lies far away in another world.

And what do you therefore turn to? There are 2 options- (neither of which do anything to help but rather do more damage) 

1. Give up and stuff your face
2. Starve yourself 

I'm not going to tell you that weight doesn't matter and that being slim isn't usually when we feel our best but I am going to try to remind you that you owe nothing to anyone - YOU have one life and YOU can choose just how you wish to live it. If you are comfortable with the weight you are, don't ever give in to the pressure to lose/put on weight. And if not, (as hard as it is and long as it takes), take the healthy route - don't crash diet as all this does is mess up your metabolism and increase your chances of putting on weight after the regime.  Rather slowly start implementing healthier options in your daily life and follow all that other stuff that everyone always tells you to do like exercising daily and drinking river-amounts of water! But never should you ever let yourself for more than one second feel inferior because of a number on the scale or fat between your legs - these are minuscule factors in a gigantic world that (if desired) can be changed through will and perseverance. 

X Zo