Selfie sticks: a whole new level of narcissism
My husband and I were
wandering around Victoria BC’s inner harbour awaiting the departure of our
whale watching tour (which, incidentally, delivered with a spectacular sighting
of cavorting killer whales) when we spotted a couple with a smart phone on a
stick. They were dutifully following behind the stick, oblivious of others and
the surroundings as they took photos of themselves.
While I don’t know if the manner
in which they were using their selfie stick is common, the entire selfie
craze suggests that we are pretty darn pleased with ourselves. However, there
is ample evidence to the contrary.
We have a hard time accepting ourselves, and our physical appearance is a particular source of angst.
Body acceptance movement: struggling to accept our bodies
The body acceptance movement is a case in
point. Variously known as “fat
acceptance”, “body love”, and “ending fat shame”, the body acceptance movement
is gaining traction. Women of all
shapes and sizes are beginning to react negatively to advertising campaigns
that restrict beauty to the ideals of the runway. (A 2014 Victoria’s Secret
campaign drew the wrath of at least 27,000 people who successfully petitioned
the lingerie company to change its ads.)
Some magazines are bucking the
skinny cover model trend. Vogue Italia led the way a few years ago when three
plus size models made the cover. This year, Tess Halliday and Erica Jean Schnek
made headlines when their photos appeared on the covers of People and Women’s
Running respectively, and ignited debate about obesity, health and fitness.
Although the body acceptance
movement is primarily associated with obesity in women, plus size women are not
alone in the struggle to accept their bodies. Skinny or fat, young or old, and
all points in between, women and men are constantly confronted with impossible
and unrealistic ideals of beauty and vitality that encourage
self-dissatisfaction. Children, too, are exposed to these ideals from an early
age and internalize messages that conflate self-worth and physical appearance.
As a child, I spent a lot of time
with my grandmother, who was very loving and kind. She was also beautiful in my
eyes and stood out from the crowd. She was on the tall side for her generation,
did her core routine twice daily, dressed well and wore heels until the day she
died. People were drawn to her and described her as attractive and gracious,
but when she looked in the mirror, all she saw were her wrinkles, and I
remember her lamenting “these darn wrinkles”.
From an early age, I internalized a message about wrinkles,
aging and beauty with which I still sometimes struggle. Some days when I look
in the mirror my own darn wrinkles really get under my skin. Other times, when
I am more inwardly and spiritually content, the wrinkles are inconsequential,
playing second fiddle to a deeper, more profound me.
Body acceptance movement is flawed
The body acceptance movement,
despite its good intentions, is flawed. Its mantra to embrace your curves puts
the cart before the horse. Beauty is more than skin deep. So whether it’s wrinkles or weight,
dissatisfaction with our body reflects some sort of inner unhappiness that is
rooted in relationships and experiences that shape us from the inside out.
No
matter how much we profess to love our curves, so-called “body positivity” on
its own is insufficient to change our interior narrative. To “embrace” fatness or thinness
can become an excuse for ignoring the life-long process of inner transformation
that leads to authentic self-acceptance.
Body acceptance has little to do
with clothing size or the image captured on that high tech mirror called a
smart phone. It has everything to
do with the condition of our interior life. If we obsess on our appearance to
the exclusion of our inner transformation, we will never be comfortable in our
own body. When we look in the mirror, we will see our self darkly, as through a
smoky, gray cloud instead of illuminated with light, aglow with the beautiful
colours of our soul. That’s an image that not even the smartest phone can
capture.
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