Behind the Lessons: Body Image!
I was in shock when a 13-year-old girl recently told me she wanted a nose job. She is in the throes of puberty, her looks changing from young girl to young woman. She is constantly taking selfies, picking them apart and then deleting them. When she passes a mirror, she pauses and judges the reflection. She has a nose picked out that she wants to emulate. Did you read that? She has a nose picked out!
Why doesn’t she see the beautiful young lady that the rest of us see?
On average, girls see three to five thousand images a day of fake people.
People who have been filtered, photoshopped and altered to fit a mold. It’s no wonder 2 million children will have an eating disorder by the time they reach age 20, with females more than twice as likely to suffer as males.
Body image is a real problem for young females. 88% of teens say body image is a big problem but it starts much younger. By the time girls reach middle school, the majority believe that their appearance defines them.
Body image is not how a girl’s body looks; it is how she thinks it looks. Body image is so closely intertwined with self-esteem, the way a girl feels about her body is how she perceives her worth. By 6th grade, many girls are already dieting and making decisions to NOT participate in social functions because of body image issues.
Our society is a driving factor for the beauty ideals, often providing confusing and damaging messages about an unrealistic thin ideal that girls are using as a measure of comparison. In addition, messages about food are prevalent and confusing.
Peers and family are also very influential in the development of unhealthy body image.
Parents who count calories, restrict certain foods, yo-yo diet or constantly judge their body are modeling an unhealthy relationship between body and self. Peers who body shame others or are fixated on their own body, create an environment in which unhealthy body talk is accepted and normalized.
BIO Girls works with our participants to accept their bodies and understand their body isn’t a ‘thing’ that needs fixing. Through our curriculum we focus on being healthy and active, not skinny and pretty. We teach girls that their bodies are not ornaments, but rather instruments performing miraculous functions each day.
We reinforce the importance of self-care, both physical and mental. Social media is intertwined into the body image discussion with participants working to recognize the unrealistic nature of social media and debunk messages tying happiness to the ‘perfect’ body.
Our goal is to help girls, like the one who wanted a nose job, understand their appearance does not equate to their worth. When this happens, girls find confidence in WHO they are, not how they look, which is a priceless gift all girls deserve.
