There's this film we've been watching in my women's health class called Thin. It's a documentary of girls who struggle with eating disorders at a rehab center. At one point, one of the girls starts crying during their community meeting and screaming that she wants to be thin and that there are so many girls at her school her are thin and she's not one of them, but to us in the audience, it is apparent that she is well below a healthy weight. One of the activities they do at this rehab center is that they have the girls trace their life-size body on a wall. They then have the girls stand in front of these pictures - the difference between the drawing and the real body is striking. These girls honestly believe themselves to be much bigger than they actually are. So that leads me to a few questions:
Where do we get this distorted image of our own bodies?
What are the consequences of having a negative or positive body image?
What can we do to come to love our bodies?
What resources are out there to help those who are deeply struggling with body image?
I hope to be able to explore these questions in more detail later. Until then, I think that this commercial gives us a lot to think about.
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I've too been watching Thin in womens health, and it really makes me want to cry. It's amazing to me how beautiful women think they are the ugliest and fattest people on earth. When I saw the girl with the feeding tube's father, I thought his argument was flawed, but had some truth to it. When I came to Utah from Maryland for the first time as a teen I felt lost, unsure of myself, self-conscious, and fat.
ReplyDeleteNever in my life were these feelings so strong. I had feelings of self-loathing even though my wonderful husband told me I was beautiful everyday, I just couldn't believe that he could love someone as ugly as me.
Luckily it was more of a depression rather than an eating disorder, but I'm grateful for the atonement and it's ability to change my feelings.
Because not many women and girls know of the power of the Atonement, or do but the temptation is too strong, it's important that we choose our words very carefully. Showing love and Sensitivity to each other is key!