BODY CONSCIOUS, WHO?
I would consider myself a fairly confident young woman. The
slow transition from being a girl child to a grown woman is presenting many confrontations
and changes within myself. After a year living abroad my concept of body image
is something that I had now concluded may be a little lost on me. So, I decided
to do a little research.
Now we can all attest that as a result of social media we
are constantly bombarded by images. Many studies have suggested and proven that
a psychological effect of being bombarded by airbrushed, photogenic and
athletic images works against a confident perception of self. I personally
believe that each person must feel confident in their own skin. No matter the side of the body scale they measure, the texture of hair they have and the amount
of melanin present or not present in their cells; All figures are due respect
and love. Confidence is an intentional state of mind induced by the conviction of your personal validity irrespective of external factors and public opinion. -VANESSA HODZA
[1]
According to PSYCHALIVE
Body
image is the perception that a person has of their physical self and
the thoughts and feelings that result from that perception. These feelings can
be positive, negative or both, and are influenced by individual and
environmental factors.
Body
image is determined by 4 factors:
1. How you
SEE your body is your perceptual body image.
2. The way
you FEEL about your body is your affective body image.
3. The way
you THINK about your body is your cognitive body image.
4. Behaviours
in which you engage as a result of your body image encompass your behavioural
body image.
So, if you make a personal assessment of your perceptual,
affective, cognitive body image and the behaviours associated with them you can
arrive at your overall body image. When I left for university a year ago, I became
responsible for my own diet, mealtimes, physical activities and sleep pattern.
Being a fashion technology college student at Polimoda in Florence who arrived
4 weeks late to the first semester and had 4 less weeks to prepare for mid-terms
I had some strong external factors influencing my body changes.
My first months in Italy my staples where pizza and pasta
but because I would school late working on assignments and projects and consequently,
I ate a lot of late heavy starch dinners. What I know now and didn’t know then
is that all that food stores up. Homesickness and cold weather produced a
depressive sleep cycle for 3 weeks during the Christmas break. It was winter,
so I didn’t mind because I needed the insulation. On the opposite end approaching
deadlines and high-stress periods came with weight loss. At the time I hardly
noticed.
I was approaching a year abroad when I went back home to Zimbabwe
and was met with comments about how light my complexion had become from being exposed
to more winter and less sun. A keen tradition in my culture where your family members
will exercise haste in letting you know if you’ve gained or lost weight or
changed at all in physical appearance since the last family gathering. Turns
out I had, in fact, lost a lot of weight and my mother was not pleased so she would
send many plates of food my way to remedy this.
So, in 12 months I went between what felt personally like two
extremes. What I struggled to understand about myself in regard to these four
factors was I knew my body was fine. At both points of having gained or lost I was
within the same size range so the changes could have been that drastic. But
my affective and cognitive body image was (as us Africans would say) under
fire. My habits would translate to a subconscious downsizing of portions or
lack of appetite. Which was hard to detect because on the days I was feeling good
or not thinking about it I ate plenty of KFC? So, I wasn’t really sure if I felt
good about my body or not. It was this floating limbo of confusion that also frustrated
me and sparked a curiosity about it all.
Now I conducted polls on my Instagram stories a little
while back to my followers on their experiences with body image. Now I understand
my sample may not be as diverse so it can to be considered an accurate depiction
of any particular recognisable group, but I helped me.
What I was trying to figure out was whether body shaming was
more intense towards men or women. Whether men and women both felt comfortable enough
to express insecurities about their bodies and whether there is a universal
standard of beauty or attractiveness that we all are measured against. I hoped
to understand if certain experiences and feelings were common to all mankind. Then
I would know that at the very least, I am not alone. Then I could figure out
some ways to help deal with it personally.
So, the results of the Instagram poll conducted by @vanessa_hodza
20 OCTOBER 2019
The following were the yes, no questions:
QUESTION
|
OPTION A
|
OPTION B
|
TOTAL VOTES
|
1. LADIES
HAVE YOU EVER STRUGGLED WITH BODY IMAGE?
|
YES 54 (90%)
|
NO 6 (10%)
|
60
|
2. GENTLEMEN
HAVE YOU EVER STRUGGLED WITH BODY IMAGE?
|
YES 13 (43%)
|
NO 17 (57%)
|
30
|
3. ALL
HUMANS HAVE YOU EVER BEEN BODY SHAMED
|
YES 67 (89%)
|
NO 8 (11%)
|
75
|
Then a multiple-choice quiz on body shaming asking what they
have been called. With a total of 78 votes and the highest participation.
BODY SHAMING THINGS YOU’VE BEEN CALLED
|
VOTES
|
TOO SMALL
|
19
|
TO BIG
|
20
|
IT HAD BEEN BOTH DEPENDING
|
21
|
I JUST WANT ICE CREAM 😊
|
18
|
I added the last option for people who feel indifferent, unbothered
or uncomfortable with being specific because it was the option I would’ve selected
and because in real life there is no right and wrong answer to such a question,
but Instagram required one.
I realised that more women felt comfortable admitting their
concerns issues and experiences with body image than men did based on the level
of engagements with the responses. Many people who I would hands down consider fit
the conventional standards of a great body struggled with body image while
others who do not seem to not struggle so much. Body shaming is universal across
all demographics and is a common experience. Finally, regardless of everything ice-cream
is always an option.
In conclusion, I realise now that you don’t always have to
be happy with how you look and feel because that is an unrealistic expectation to
put on yourself no matter how you really look. Prioritising eating well, sleeping
well, being physically active and positive mental reinforcement are some way
you can improve how your body actually looks which will most likely boost how
you feel about it. Re-evaluating your concept of beauty and the psychological mirror
you measure yourself against is essential. Race, body types and bone structures
and genetics present factors about how you look that can be difficult or impossible
to change.
I say we practice learning to love all the aspects of
ourselves that aren’t to our detriment. To say our bodies shouldn’t change at
all may not be so correct but I think self-love is prioritising your spiritual,
mental and physical wellbeing. A positive relationship between you and your
body is of great value to you so we should practise being kind to ourselves. Write
a note to self on your mirror or as a sticky note so that whenever you look yourself
in the mirror you have a reminder of what kind of language you ought to feel
that cognitive body image. Set small and realistic health and fitness goals in
the beginning. Get started on your workout goals, the meal plans and your dietary
research. However, with the same amount of positive thinking, enjoy your occasional
pizza and a tub of ice cream when you are happy or sad is allowed occasionally.
Be proactive about feeling better, thinking more positive,
living healthily and enjoying the treats and the cheat days as well. A negative
body image serves only to hold you back from becoming your best self and
achieving your goals in life. As for me, I going to do my absolute practise
what I preach. And hopefully you will hear a bit more of how well I do on that
in the coming year.
Thank you so much for reading and supporting this blog and I
look forward to the feedback. A special thank you to all the voters on my Instagram
account who contributed to the conversation by being part of the sample group.
Looking forward to sharing more content with you and continuing this journey together.
Signed
Vanessa Tarumbidwza Hodza
Comments