Body Image Issues

Image is a visual representation of something or somebody, says Google. So if its just a visual representation then what is this whole chaos about?

There is this image of beauty for girls which had following attributes:

1. Lean body
2. Good Height, like more than 5 feet 5 inches
3. Highly defined curves 
4. Fair to white skin color 
5. Pointy nose 
6. Long luscious hair 
7. Fullness in lips 
8. Desired amount of bulge in chest and buttocks (desired is equal to very well defined range, beyond and below which is unacceptable)
9. and many more, trying to remember them is making me anxious, ha ha

We were shown this image, constantly, to an extent that we forgot everything else. Diversity in bodies became a sham. And everything started being either beautiful or ugly. There was no gray area, only white and black. The progression of this notion obviously lead to separation based on superiority and inferiority. If someone would say that this girl is beautiful then our minds will already create this perfect image. So, only one perception became absolute definition of beautiful, similar to how only one person can score first rank in class.

Girls started thinking that this is the goal, this is where we should be in order to be desirable. These notions, stealthily became part of the very beginning of thoughts in female children. Now, the scene is, as soon as the girl starts reaching teenage, the older woman do not hesitate for a second to say something like, 'who will marry her, she is fat and dark skinned'. And in their minds they think that it is for girls' own benefit. They do not realize how inappropriate that is, not even for a second.

A child with growing mind, who hasn't started understanding the biases very well, start hating themselves. They start thinking that there is something wrong with them. In this tender age, they learn to stand in front of the mirror and see flaws in themselves, curse themselves for those flaws, and hate their body in and out. They learn to defy everything good in them, because no one will marry them because of their imperfections. Let me remind you, these are so small children, that they don't understand the concept of marriage. All they know is they will get to wear beautiful dresses, and there will be a feast. But they are sad thinking that how will they look. 

It gets so woven in their fiber that they stop seeing themselves anymore. When a person stands in the front of mirror, there should be exact replica of them in the mirror, that phenomenon stops happening. From the image that is formed on retina, to the processing of visual image by brain, a lot of angles change. The girl only sees fat hanging from here and there, and frizzes in the hair. There might be vertebrae spikes stretching her skin when she bends, but she will see fat. There might be perfect curves, she will see something wrong with the breast. That part of her body, which is nice, becomes invisible, it is a void in the mirror. She will not look at it, much like a child scoring 98 and getting a look of despair for not scoring a perfect 100. 

Body image issues are not something that you just see in the mirror, its what looks back at you from the back of the mirror. Its the voice that describes, how you look. Its the constant comparison of you with that perfect image of beauty. Its the urge to kill your desires to wear an attire, because your body is not made for it. Its when a baby girl asks for a dress on mannequin, and mother tells her to first attain that shape. It is when that baby girl grows up to wear only oversized clothes, so that her body is hidden in them. 

PS : Body image issue is socially acceptable and appreciated mental disorder. It is absolutely right to be in a state of constant guilt to not be born a certain way and threatening your life to fix your body.