Write & Wrong

"Beauty" and the Media (mostly internet).

To my dearest readers, do not succumb to society. Hell no. Kick that shit in the face and run.

Today I want to talk about the whole "erryone is bootiful <3" thing that goes around the internet, and in most media in general.

While all these beauty campaigns and "thinspiration" posts/other forms of media mean well (even I have those days where I just need the Internet to remind me that I'm not worthless trash) they're not targeted to full potential, in a way. If that makes sense. I don't think it does. I shall rant.

First, there's that one picture that goes around on tumblr, like, "do u want collerbones or cake? flat stomach or french fries?" and then it goes down the list, naming things girls commonly obsess over and their "counterparts," like delicious greasy food that make people happy. For anyone who uses that for "inspiration," don't. Do not. That is not the picture of health. In fact, the model in those pictures needs more cake and french fries, if anything.

To go into specifics, let's talk about thigh gaps.

Guys. Ladies. Girls. Fellas. Betches. Muchachos. EVERYONE. Thigh gaps are not a matter of weight, okay? They are a matter of bone structure. BONE STRUCTURE. FUCKING. BONE STRUCTURE.

Everyone is born with a different body type and bone structure. Many people have wide hips, which in summary, means that their legs, naturally, are going to have more space in between them in comparison to people with slim hips. It would be easier for wide-hipped people to obtain a thigh gap in comparison to slim-hipped people.

For example, I have slim hips. I probably will not have a thigh gap unless I starve myself to measures beyond health's reach. And that's exactly what girls with bodies like me are doing for this damn thigh gap. Whhaaaatt

Being confident with yourself is always important, but going through drastic measures to achieve something beyond your control is ridiculous. I know that anorexia, bulimia, and other EDNOS (Eating Disorder(s) Not Otherwise Specified) are not something to joke about, but why would you put yourself through such scrutinty to obtain something that's basically impossible? 

And for your shitty metaphor of the week: It's like trying to lick your elbow. You pull your arm as much as possible, twist it, turn it, and it hurts. It hurts really bad. At one point you think you break something. You probably just--Oh, great, look at that, you dislocated your shoulder. And yet, the chance of you actually licking your elbow is slim. It had been slim since the moment you started. So why dislocate your shoulder, put yourself in the hospital for something that wasn't bound to happen in the first place?

I understand that I may be a bit harsh, and some girls'/guys' bodies are built with a thigh gap just out of pure BONE STRUCTURE, calorie absorbtion/retention/etc, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about people who will refuse to eat out of lust for this thigh gap. (If you are having a problem with one of these eating disorders, talk to someone. I'm not going to ask you to "just start eating," because I know it's not that simple. Talk to your friend, parent, teacher, hell, talk to me, even. Get help. There are internet help sources. Someone is always willing to help you.)

Tumblr is a huge offender of supporting the thigh gap. I don't mean tumblr staff, but the people on tumblr, as we know, can get weird. One of the aspects of tumblr is "thinspiration," which is the freaky sect of tumblr that is all about the thigh gap. It's full of pictures with cruel motives disguised as inspiration.

But hallelujah, tumblr is becoming self-aware, because after previously checking the "thigh gap" tag about two months ago,  the ratio of no-thigh-gap to pro-thigh-gap posts are now 3:1. 

Things to know about forced thigh gaps:

-No.

-Don't.

-Your legs are fabulous. Less leg = less fabulous. Why would you wanna do that?

-Remember that Beyonce does not have a thigh gap, and no one can deny Beyonce.

I shall now move onto beauty campaigns and "everyone is beautiful" sort of things. The thing is, when most of these "inspriational" pictures come about across the internet and whatnot, they're centered toward women.

Women = everyone? Not quite.

What about our lovely guys? Where's their body appreciation posts? A conversation with a friend of mine helped me remember that guys are body conscious, too. In fact, they could be more body-conscious than women. Instead of the female stereotype, in which insecurity is embraced, at the very least expected, in most cases, men aren't "allowed" to share their feelings. Because SOCIETY IS A HEARTLESS DEMON HELL YEAH.

Women have tons of "beauty comes in all shapes and sizes" stuff. Pictures, videos, magazines. None for men. I have yet to see one for men. Men have the same problems as women: some are short, some are tall, some are wide, thin, muscular, unproportional, hairy, etc.; guys have flaws just as women do. Guys can't always express them though, and a lot of us don't remember to take them into account.

Women aren't always fragile and in need of lifting up. Men aren't always tough to the core and content with themselves.  

With another form of these "beauty" things, there's fitspiration! Yay for feeling bad about yourself while you eat pizza and look at pictures of girls with abs!

No, I'm totally kidding. I use a lot of fitspiration stuff for working out. But, when fitspiration blogs, accounts, whatever--whenever they display the girls who lift, they're all skinny, white, and beautiful, and have captions like, "Look gorgeous like dis girl!"

I am not size zero nor within proximity of such. But I'm strong. Muscles for dayz, my friends. But when I look on instagram and see a bunch of really skinny girls lifting the same weight as I do, it can get really disheartening, like, "look how far you've come. Now look how far away from everything you are. This is beauty, strength."

Sometimes, things need to be depicted in a new light. Have that strong, curvy African American girl lift weights instead of pretty little white girl. Show the starting point instead of the finish line. Fitspiration accounts are great and all, but I feel like it's only displaying the supposed only version of greatness. I think greatness can come in many forms, including that curvy black woman lifting shittons of weights. Fuck yeah, that's greatness. Greatness not always the same skinny white girl lifting the same shitton of weights.

I think it's time for beauty and it's "definition" to take a rain check.

Btw, you're all fabulous. Incredible. Notice how I didn't say beautiful, because in the long run, you can look great, and beauty is nice, but your fuckin fabulousness is what's gonna take you places.

Don't spend too much time on what's on the outside. (lol yeah stay on the couch forever and ever) (vote for being a really nice couch potato)

-Suggestions, statements, love letters, or death threats? Just comment c;

{Also, thank you for 300 reads and counting! I appreciate every single one to the core.}