Body Image And the Message That is Fed

Body image insecurity is increasingly becoming an issue in today’s society. A recent study found that approximately 80% of U.S. women don't like how they look and 34% of men are dissatisfied with their body (Runfola, et. al, 2013) and that number is only continuing to grow. Body image dissatisfaction is based around feelings of discontentment. Discontentment is defined as, “a lack of satisfaction with one's possessions, status, or situation.” Therefore implying that an individual has control over changing it. 

Of course the statistics of dissatisfaction and body image are growing…

The larger problem here is that within western culture there is an emphasis placed on an individual’s size and the importance of being thin, which in turn gives those that are born in a thin body, thin privilege. More specifically, society and the media have created the idea that people have control over their body size and therefore their weight. This entire concept negates the uniqueness of the individual and puts individuals in larger bodies in positions to be judged, oppressed, and treated differently.

Dieting, An Endless Game

With a societal expectation based upon a misconceived idea, it is incredibly common for individuals to develop anxiety, depression, low self esteem and body hatred that is reflective of the messages that they have been fed within their environment. 

Many individuals approach the support of a professional (such as a dietician, therapist, nutritionist) in pursuit of cracking the code of thinness. They believe that there is something inherently wrong with them and that they cannot control their relationship with food and this denies them of achieving their weight goals. This right here is what we call the impact of diet culture. 

You might think that diet culture is only represented in the more obvious ways such as marketing of “fat burning” products, programs such as Weight Watchers, and restrictive meal plans given by health care professionals. The truth is that diet culture is everywhere and as research begins to make a case for the negative impact it has, diet culture has found incredibly sneaky and creative ways to continue its infiltration of the way our culture perceives food and bodies. 

The Wellness Diet - A New Approach to Dieting

For example, the most common exemplification of diet culture seen today is through the wellness diet. What is the wellness diet? The wellness diet is any form of media, marketing, or beliefs promoting the ideal of health. When in fact, this idea of being healthy is an incredibly creative way of masking diet culture’s attempts to feed the idea that thinness is a choice (that being healthy, eating clean, cutting out certain food groups will help people to lose weight). Not to mention there can be a moral component drawn from it as well. 

The Wellness Diet and the morale attributes associated with health fail to address that health is something only accessible by some communities. Whether there be a lack of access, a lack of education, or a lack of community awareness to the benefits of eating healthy, many communities do not have a choice. Why do we pass morale judgments on entire communities that do not have the same advantages?

Diet culture is around us every day. There is no escaping the messages that are so far engrained in society. With that being said, you do not have to continue down the path of dieting, binging, restricting, or whatever form your relationship with food and your body takes form.

Reach out for support with body image or eating disorder treatment

If you are interested in seeking support I would love to work with you towards reaching your goals and redefining the relationship that you have with your body. If you are interested in learning more about how I work with body image dissatisfaction and disordered eating through eating disorder treatment or how I utilize online therapy I encourage you to read more. 

If you are interested in setting up a free 20 minute consultation please reach out!

-Ellie