Remember: Love your body

MOST women struggle with body image acceptance and may end up struggling with low self-esteem because they believe they should look a particular way to be accepted in society.

According to the National Organization for Women Foundation (NOW), every day, in many ways, the beauty industry (and the media in general) tell women and girls that being admired, envied and desired based on their looks is a primary function of true womanhood. The organisation further states that the beauty template women are expected to follow is extremely narrow, unrealistic and frequently hazardous to their health. Its Love Your Body campaign challenges the message that a woman’s value is best measured through her willingness and ability to embody current beauty standards.

NOW, however, admits that the problem is that the media is everywhere — advertisements are in magazines, newspapers and commercials, and television shows are one of the most popular forms of entertainment, which means that it is almost impossible to ignore the influence of the media on ideas of beauty and body image.

But, as part of their solution, NOW said as women we can educate each other on what being healthy really is, and remind each other that everybody is beautiful.

So remember, whenever you see young girls who don’t fit the typical media stereotype of beautiful or those who may experience self-hate because they think they aren’t pretty, encourage them and help to boost their perception of themselves.