Accepting your body whatever the form

AT one point in most women's lives, they will hear this. "I need to go on a diet, I've been putting on weight recently." Ever feel that the person saying this was out of her mind, that her body weight seems "normal" and she looks better than you do?

Throughout history, women and men are expected to conform to ideal body types. Thin women were adjudged to be more physically attractive than obese women, while well-toned and muscular men were promoted in mainstream media. Just how many women and men can attain these standards?

UK Equalities Minister Lynn Featherstone recently said that there is a need for more curvaceous role models like US TV series Mad Men actress Christina Hendricks.

She added that there has been an "overexposure" of skinny models, which was causing a crisis in "body confidence" among the young.

Is the UK minister's comments about needing more voluptuous women in mainstream media a welcoming change? Not entirely.

Featherstone may have criticised the media's promotion of thinness as an ideal body, but she is creating yet another ideal by saying that women should look up to role models like Hendricks.

Therein lies another problem and an indication that body image is a complex issue that goes beyond how media influences what we perceive to be the ideal body, as sociocultural pressures, interpersonal family relations and socialisation of women themselves are all possible catalysts of creating an ideal body. Does this ideal body exist or it is just a myth?

There is no doubt that images portrayed in the media create a powerful determinant in how society perceives and thinks about the ideal body. We are constantly facing a barrage of messages about dieting and beauty that expects women to continue adjusting and that the female body is an object to be perfected.

Scholars have long argued that fashion magazines, movies, television and advertising of the ideal body or other difficult to achieve standards of beauty are pervasive, even though it is unrealistic for most women to achieve.

In advertisements, we can see beauty businesses promoting lose weight or slimming photos of consumers who used to be overweight or obese.

Television shows and movies continue to feature thin actresses in lead roles, while fat women are usually shunned and laughed at in society. Such discrimination only leads to more health problems - eating disorders.

Taglines such as "thin is in" or "curvy is in" are even used, as if it's some kind of fashion trend, rather than a focus on one's health or wellbeing.

In many countries, governments and healthcare providers are quick to highlight the health risks associated with obesity. Brunei is no exception, after all the Sultanate has the highest obesity rate among Asean member countries, as stated in the World Health Organisation global database.

The WHO defined overweight and obesity as "abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health". Figures paint a grim global picture, with the WHO projecting that at least 400 million adults were obese, and more than 700 million will be obese by 2015.

Science has determined that body mass index (BMI) provides the most useful measure of overweight and obesity for both sexes and for all ages of adults. But what are the social implications?

Notice that the WHO defined overweight and obese as "abnormal". There is a common generalisation of what "normal" is, without challenging this notion as problematic for people who cannot meet the expectations of society.

How many people can say that they are dieting for health, and not for beauty reasons? Various research have also shown that women place a high value on physical attributes, which play an important role in their self-evaluation.

This self-evaluation then becomes a way of life, where women are constantly weighing and measuring themselves to achieve the desired weight or body and compare their bodies with other women.

For some, this constant pursuit of the desired weight can be deadly, as obsession can lead to eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia.

Women who suffer from anorexia and bulimia see themselves as heavier and fat, even though their body figure is evidently thinner than the average woman.

Media messages can be divided into "positive" and "negative" images, which are based on the assumptions of what is "normal" and "abnormal". This discourse of normality has further created the myth of an ideal body.

Everyone is a subject of the struggle in achieving a body that produces power relations that determine who is "normal" and "abnormal".

Together, "positive" and "negative" images, as well as "normal" and "abnormal" play a role in the social formation of the ideal body, which is also associated with leading a good life. With the ideal body, we are promised with beauty, self-confidence, success and happiness.

The ideal body gives a basis as to how to strive for a body which is accepted and desired in society. However, these ideals cannot be achieved by every person, simply because when a particular ideal is achieved, this ideal will not last forever or another ideal resurfaces.

Ideals which are constructed by society is continually changing, it is impossible to achieve an ideal one after another in becoming a "normal" person, a myth that cannot be controlled by any person. Hence, there needs to be a recognition that human bodies consists of a diverse range of shapes and sizes and women need to accept and love their body even if society pressures them to achieve the ideal body.

The Brunei Times