When we look back at classic art, paintings and sculptures, what kind of women do we see? Women who are not a size zero! The only skinny ones are the dead skeletons. Up to some years ago, we were plump and happy. What are we today? Miserable, starving, depressed and unhappy.
I believe it was when Twiggy, this British model that looked like a twig, hence her nickname, became a total success during the 60's, women and men went crazy, embracing this body type and making it our ‘new model’. Her body shape became the norm.
I believe it was when Twiggy, this British model that looked like a twig, hence her nickname, became a total success during the 60's, women and men went crazy, embracing this body type and making it our ‘new model’. Her body shape became the norm.
Because of Twiggy and the new model body shape, everyone started dieting. The craze had begun. The food and the pharmaceutical industries, physicians, nutritionists, researchers, Hollywood and everyone jumped on the bandwagon. The billion dollar dieting industry was born.
A cult of thinness envelops us and is evidenced by the growing number of eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa and bulimia. We have suffered this self and social imposition to be skinny and shapeless for over 35 years! For over 35 years we have starved, overate, bounced back and forth, become yo-yos, suffered low self- esteem, developed eating disorders, become bulimic and anorexic, lost the pleasure of eating, developed self-hatred, searched for an identity based on our poor self-image, become addicted to exercise, gone through more plastic surgery than we care to admit, and so on and so forth.
On our quest for the perfect skinny body, we have lost hope. According to the ‘norm’, we are all at least 20 lbs overweight! But in reality we are just showing a naturally shaped body. This game we have been played lately takes no winner, we are all losers and very much unhappy. It is now time to stop.
It’s time we women wake up and realize that a body made of sticks is the illusion of few and that false reality has got give way to the real reality: women have curves! Think about the freedom you will have when you realize that it is all right to carry your body in a rounder way. This is the shape we have.
Let's stop this nonsense and accept ourselves as we truly are: more like Marilyn and Sophia much less like Twiggy. Sure, let's exercise and eat balanced and nutritious meals then, let's look in the mirror and admire our curves. They are our blueprint. They are part of us. Only then, we will be in peace with ourselves and find true happiness.
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