A picture is worth a thousand words...
I saw this on my facebook feed. To say it made me sad would be a huge understatement. 
This image that has been credited to photographer and semi retired model, Meg Gaiger, has been making its rounds on Facebook and I find it absolutely POWERFUL. First of all, BRAVO to this photographer for creating an image that, to me, is absolutely perfect. It’s probably the strongest image I have ever seen that deals with a subject that’s so important. I commend her for doing this and I hope that everyone takes the time to discover her work. (I haven’t found this image in her portfolios online however)
So, I wanted to touch on this subject because I think that almost every woman out there has had issues with their perception of their own body. Working in photography, I can tell you right now that even the models that young girls aspire to look like have several issues with their own body image! It’s as though we believe that if we can only look like them, we’ll be happy. To a certain extent, losing weight can make you feel better about yourself. But it doesn’t fix the underlying issue with your self-esteem that will continue to haunt you no matter how thin or how pretty you are. I know models who have been blessed with the best of genes and who take really good care of their bodies but who still continue to hate their body. No, it’s not about being thin or being physically beautiful. It reaches deeper than that.
I think that the push to have curvier models, larger bodied models is a good start but that doesn’t even go far enough. Seeing a plus size model in a magazine helps to reflect reality a bit more, but we can’t kid ourselves in believing that this is the only solution to the issue.
See, I firmly believe that if you want to change a society, you first have to start with changing yourself. And by changing ourselves, I mean changing our core values. I mean retraining our minds to stop relying so heavily on external factors. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with appreciating physical beauty, and perhaps evolutionary-speaking, we may be hard-wired to seek out good-looking people. I read somewhere that people with symmetrical facial features are instantly seen as more attractive than people whose features are asymmetrical. Biologically, I suppose this makes sense – perhaps our instinct is to find mates that we can procreate with and these physical cues lead us to believe that a physically thin and symmetrical body is healthier.
*snip*
http://julielaurin.com/2014/09/on-body-image/
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