
What better time than Spring to stand up and rebut the never-ending body-hating diatribe that begins in the lead up to Summer?
How many posts, articles, videos and calls to action to get “beach body ready” have you seen in the last 2 weeks?
How many times have you read that we have gained too much over the winter and that we will humiliate ourselves if we have gained a winter pooch?
How many diets, exercise programs, and shame messages have you heard about this spring?
The body hate industry, which makes billions of dollars by explaining to us how everything from feet to our hair is wrong and need to be fixed. No one is immune, people of all genders are targeted but as women, we seem to be chosen to receive a special level of attention from this industry.
More and more men are diagnosed with eating disorders and face the pressures of never looking good enough to fit society’s standards. People who identify outside the binary undoubtedly feel the pressures although I am unaware of specific studies that report on that (if you know of any please share). Regardless of gender or age, we all see these messages and internalise the message at some level.