THE IMPORTANCE OF BODY POSITIVITY REP. IN YA BOOKS

 

What do you love?

This is a simple question, I will give you a bit of time to leave it in the comments.  (scroll super fast down there please, no peeking!!!)

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When I think about this question, I think of the cliche yet truthful answers:  God, family, loved ones, friends.

Then you go to the other stuff: Pets, chocolate, music, books, writing

These are all the generic answers. God, loved ones, tangible objects, things you’re passionate about, etc.

But how long would it take you, how long would you have to keep listing things, for you to say that you love yourself?

boom there it is.

Media has programmed us into thinking, no… believing that we are not beautiful.  That the only way you could possibly be loved is because of how you look.  You see these skinny models showing off everything.  They are everywhere you look.  They are the models that showed off the clothes that you’re wearing right now, the ones that you are drowning in at any public place.  We are led to think that we are nowhere near as beautiful or skinny as the model, so we buy the clothes.  It’s genius actually.  Photo shopped girls make us wish we were just. like. them.

We need body image representation because nobody should wish to be like someone else just because of the number on the tag of their pants.   

And I’m not just saying this as thin privilege or anti-thin people or whatever.  A lot of people are born skinny.  A lot of people are born with more curves.  It’s not all about what you eat, people.  Most of the models you see are photo shopped to the extreme.  What media wants you to believe is real beauty isn’t existent.

Because the truth is that everyone is beautiful.  Everyone deserves to be loved.  Everyone is ethereal.

In starfish, by Akemi Dawn Bowman, we can tell that Kiko has a normal body.  But she is still not confident in herself.   Blonde girls with blue eyes and the “perfect” figure are pushed into the eyes of all to see and envy and aspire to be.  Kiko still is pushed to perfectionism.  We all are.  Even if you’re thin or curvy, or in between like many, we are never good enough.  Everything we see or have ever seen has assured us of that.  

We need focus on body positivity, or at least someone to relate to.  We need characters of all shapes in sizes. Because as you have noticed, America is filled with different races and cultures and religions and ethnicities.  But have you also seen how many different body types there are?

You can be healthy but not lose a single pound.  You can eat all you want and not gain a single pound.  The weight on the scale does not determine your worth.  The amount of space you take up in the world doesn’t either.  Because that’a all it is.  It’s how much space you take up.  And you have a lot of space, so take up all of the space you want!!  Wear clothes that make you feel beautiful!  You don’t have to suck in.

 

We need both characters who are happy with their bodies just the way they are.  Those characters should be our role models, not the super models.

We also need character arcs where they are not comfortable or confident in the skin that God gave them, but learn to be.

We need to talk about the topic of eating disorders, the topic of unrealistic body expectations.

We need books where these types of characters have romance and love interests.

We need to show people that the Victoria’s secret models are not the only ones who are able to be loved.

We need this in modern literature, and we need it badly.

If you’ve ever thought, “I wish I could be her!”  Think about what you would miss if you really were her.  You wouldn’t know your friends or family.  You would never fulfill your dreams.  Because those are the things that are more important than any body ever could be.

Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy really truly showed me what I have always wanted in a book.  It shows a woman confident in her body, who learns to be even more confident.  It shows that Willowdean can be a true beauty queen.  That she can be loved.

Willowdean was relatable.  Sometimes you want to be so confident about yourself and feel like you can take over the entire world, but everybody is constantly embedding in your mind that you can’t.

Required reading for people who have even the slightest insecurities about themselves.  I sat for hours reading it, crying over the realness.

You may not be like the women in the magazine.  You’re real, and that makes you just as beautiful as them.  You may not be hourglass shaped, but you’re awesome shaped.  There are big girls who like their bodies, there are big girls who hate their bodies, and there are thin girls who hate their bodies and thin girls who like their bodies.  And there are a lot of girls in between ‘big’ and ‘thin’.  But that’s ok!  Because the worst thing you can do to your body is wish parts of it away, and to torture it just to fit the world’s standard.

You can be any size and be healthy.  If you eat well, you can still stay the same size.  You don’t have to go on a huge diet to make healthy choices, guys.

There is so much more to you or anybody than what they look like, even the models.  You can be the nastiest person and be any size.  And you can be the kindest person and still be any size.  Remember that.

Beauty comes in so many figures.