When Will America Accept All Body Types?

Selena Gomez #theresmoretolove photo +Selena Gomez

Yesterday, a writer from Marie Claire wrote an article named "9 Things Selena Gomez Did to Get the Body She Has Now", and I am not trying to shame them or anything. I know that she was just writing a story, and I do not want it to seem like I am attacking Marie Claire or the writer. The article was actually pretty good and explained how to slim down in a healthy way.  My purpose for this story is to understand why society, particularly America, is so obsessed about the ideal body image? I get that Selena Gomez was fat shamed last year and this year she decided to lose weight, but I think that's the problem for women in general. Why do we feel that because one person (or many people) say something about our weight we have to go lose weight. Selena Gomez is one of my favorite artist' and her curves are beautiful. I get it some people may want to tone up, including me myself, but we should not feel like we have to lose weight just because someone says something. That may or may not be the case for Selena, but I know for a lot of us non-famous people we feel like that's something that we have to do. When I saw her before and after pictures from Marie Claire I really didn't see a change at first, but then I saw that she slimmed down. Still, I really thought she was beautiful either way. I keep wondering when are people going to realize that? I know that the article gave great tips about being healthy. I know that she did not go on a diet and never weighed herself. I hear a lot of people who are very healthy and lost a ton of weight call curvy or overweight people lazy, because "if they can do it then the people who are overweight can as well". What if they feel beautiful already? What if they feel like no one else's opinion matters? There are so many plus sized and curvy bloggers who are beautiful, yet we are still stuck on what men like and being skinny. 

For the last few years, the hourglass shape has been pretty popular. With stars like Nicki Minaj, JLO, Beyonce, Kim Kardashian and more girls and women everywhere are being influenced by how they think their bodies should look. With tiny waists and huge bums. To be honest, it is unreal. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons says, that butt implants went up 98 percent 2013 to 2014. Also that liposuction went up 5 percent and Newsy reports that the demand for lip implants has increased 48 percent since 2000 until 2015. I know that to a lot of people including men may just seem like numbers, but in reality it shows how it is very common for women in America to have low self esteem. It seems as though celebrities and the media are telling girls and young women that whatever they do not like about themselves they can just change it. That is the wrong message. Yes, dieting and exercising can be a healthy way of losing weight and changing yourself, but did we forget the negative effects of constantly dieting and exercising. Some people work out so much it becomes an obsession just to lose weight. That is what makes dieting unhealthy. Last year, there was the Kylie Jenner lip challenge, and a lot of girls were doing it. Since the lip challenge did not work that well, people started opting to just getting injections like Kylie did herself. One article from New York Daily News, talks about how teens from New York started getting temporary lip fillers because they were influenced by other celebrities and Kylie Jenner. The doctors believe that the girls were influenced by Jenner and one client even said "her lips are too thin and she just wants to be pretty.".  A lot of us forget that it is what is on the inside that counts. We also forget self acceptance because we are too caught up with what people are saying and what celebrities are doing. 

It seems like America is never going to accept the different types of female bodies, but I believe that is when start somewhere like ignoring or endorsing fashion designers that support plus sized clothes then we have something. Social media is tough on girls' and young women believe me I've been there. I can still hear my mother's comments about my weight ringing in my ear. I would always take it to heart and it led me to making myself throw up, going on crazy diets, or working out obsessively. And not that my mother is a bad person, but when will this all stop? When will the fashion industry show even more varieties of plus sized women? When will all stores have nice looking plus sized clothing? We say we love BBW's and curvy women, but really we just love the idea of that. We love the tiny waist and big boobs and butt. What about women who are curvy all around? Yes, people can lose weight to fit into clothes, but why do we have to? I want all women to feel beautiful inside out. I want young girls and teenagers to feel great already. I do not want them to feel like if they have the money then plastic surgery is the answer, because it is not. America would look so different if we just accepted women for how God made their body image. 

PSALMS 139