The media needs to stop reducing a woman’s worth to her body type
We need to register the fact that women’s bodies are not trends.
TW: This article includes mentions of weight stigma, diet culture and eating disorders.
Over the years, we have been in a perpetual circle of body-related trends that the media has thrown at us. These trends went from looking curvy like Marilyn Monroe in the 1950s to an emaciated, heroin-chic look in the 90s. Only now, we have begun accepting our bodies the way they are- but unfortunately, these old trends are circling back to waif-like bodies of the 90s. However, the real question lies here- why is there a need to reduce a woman’s worth to her body type?
Trends are a part of life- they exude relevancy, and everybody likes being relevant. However, when trends and body types conflate- it creates an exhausting pattern of opting for unhealthy habits to look a certain way. Let me elaborate —
Trends are dynamic- they change constantly, and with the advent of social media, some micro trends change every quarter. Media has always segmented body types into trends that need to change every few months. Just like curvy was a ‘thing’ in 2020, in 2023- an emaciated heroin-chic body is making a comeback.
An unsurprising fact about this is bodies in a trend has never reached and impacted men in a damaging way. So, why is a woman’s worth dependent on her body type? Why is there a need to categorise a woman’s body into trends that will lose relevancy in a few months?
Y2K fashion is coming back, and that has revived the low-waist jeans, baby tees and ultra-thinness that ruled the charts in the 00s. What’s worrisome is that if such damaging trends come to life, it might bring the almost dead body-type-trend back to life.
We as a society need to realise that ultra-thinness or curvy figures are not always achievable for a lot of women- genetics matter here. Similarly, when one propels a trend that suggests a certain body type is not ‘ideal’, it might cause problems like weight stigma, fad-diet culture and eating disorders.
It’s critical to understand that body shapes and sizes should never be trends- because, at the end of the day, why would an individual change the course of their body just to fit in? While I agree that losing or gaining weight for one's health benefits is important, I highly condone the idea of gaining or losing weight for the sake of fitting in.
Trends are replaceable, but our bodies are not. Social media has continuously become a running factor in determining a woman’s worth amounting to the followers and the body they have.
Do you remember the magazines that criticised women that weren’t conventionally thin? Or the ones that advised on how to reduce weight to look a certain way? It took us a long time to come to terms with flaunting the body that one has, so why does a third-party get to intervene in something they have one-dimensional knowledge about?
If you look closely, adhering to these trends never amounts to perfection- there is always something that discerns our body from becoming the ideal type- sometimes it’s the hair colour, and sometimes it's the body proportions. So, why do we need a person that has not lived a single day in our bodies, to decide if we are capable or not?
Remember this- our bodies: thin or thick- kept us alive through the pandemic when everything was uncertain. We don’t need the media to tell us if our bodies pass the ‘ideal body’ examination or not. Finally, it’s enervating to change our bodies and compare them with other individuals. Ultimately, what truly matters is that our love for our bodies shouldn’t be conditional, and we should learn to love our bodies irrespective of the way it looks.
