Let me start off this myTake by saying that this is specifically aim for girls. But of course, guys are free to read on.
As we all know that the ideal of beauty is always changing through the ages. We all remember how in Ancient Greek (well according to the statues of their Goddess), women were considered pretty when they had big bottom, big bust and wide waist instead of slim one. From Medieval age until Early Renaissance too, woman's body was considered perfect when they were in bigger size (compared to now's ideal beauty). Moving on, from the mid Renaissance ahead, hourglass shape started to dominate woman's ideal beauty, and even until today, hourglass is still considered as the perfect body shape a woman can have (don't say no, I know you know that it's true).
Now to achieve this ideal body, women often suffer both mentally and physically. I don't know if you've heard this before, but back when I was doing my research on Elizabethan ideal beauty, I came across a woman who confessed that she had worn a corset since she was a kid to achieve the super, impossibly slim waist. It worked amazingly, cause later her husband admitted he could fit his wife's waist in his two palms (shocking...). She also stated that she had no problem like other girls who said wearing corset was such a torture. But other girl, confessed that she only started wearing corset when she was 15 years old to have that super slim waist under the force of her parents and her fiance. She admitted the corset had taken her joy in living her life, she began to have digestion problem, stomach cramp and often heavy fatigue and hard breathing. She suffered physically and mentally since her parents still insisted her on wearing the corset until she achieve the ideal waist measurement that time.
Now, enough of the history part and let's get to the real problem here. As we all notice, girls are very insecure with their body, including me. The media has always advertised the lean hourglass body shape to all of us that we started to think, "if I'm not lean and slim like those models, then I'm not pretty". Also lately, the propaganda of Curvy Girl started to emerge to backlash the slim skinny beauty ideal which has been going on for quite some time. And I gotta admit, both Ashley Graham and Alessandra Ambrosio had successfully brought down my confidence at one time. They're both hot, they're both attractive, they both are a beauty standard. Girls now can take a pick, either they wanna be like VS Angels, or be more like Ashley Graham, the sexy curvy girl. Usually, girls would pick the one that their body could easily achieve; skinny girls usually go for VS Angels, while big size girls would go for Ashley Graham. And that, left a girl like me, hanging in between of the two.
Let me start this with the phrase 'I HATE SPORTS'. I was born with a pear shape body, with tendency to go fat much faster than any of my family members, with severe low blood pressure and with cardiovascular problem. As much as I used to love sports back when I was a kid, my heart condition worsened and forced me to stop doing anykind of sports. Literally, the first phrase that came to my mind that time (I was 12) was "Shit, I'm gonna be fat from now on", and that's true. Sports were my only way to keep my weight stable, without it, that kilograms of mine elevated fast. Eventually though, I had an ablation (a procedure to cure my heart dissease) and supposedly everything went back normal, except that it's not. 90% of patients undergo ablation is a major success, and the rest, well, let's just say we're not that lucky. So anyway, sports become my number 1 enemy as it could trigger the symptoms back.
If you ask me a question, are you skinny? I'd say no. Are you fat? I'd say no. Are you lean? I'd say no. Are you curvy? I'd say not really. Because that's just me, I'm not fat cause I'm keeping track of my weight. I'm not skinny cause getting rid of the fats I gained before is almost impossible without sports. I'm not lean, cause I haven't been doing any sports for, let's see, for EVER. So what am I? I am my own measurement. My upper body is size 6 or 8 (depends on the brand), and my lower body is 8 or 10 (again, depends on the brand). I used to hate my body, cause there is no way for me to become either VS Angels or Ashley Graham (I can say goodbye to that dream).
But ladies, think about this, why become someone else when you can be you and be healthy? Thanks to my sister, she made me realize that what media gives us is not reality. They'll always want us to think that they're the best, that if we're not like what they show us, then we're not pretty. But the most important thing is how we actually treat our body, which is to keep it healthy. You can hit the gym or plan your diet, or whatever it is, as long as you can keep your body healthy, that's enough. So, remember this, you are pretty no matter what you look like. There are so many questions here asking if their body looks good. But you know what? No one can bring you down except you yourself. If you see and you admit that you're pretty, then people will see that you are pretty. I know I'm not healthy enough compare to other people out there, but I'm doing my best to keep my other organs functioning well (hopefully until I reach my old days) by keeping track of what I eat. I seriously don't really care anymore about my body shape, I mean as long as it's still in human form, and in woman form (which means I still have my bust and vagina) and as long as it's healthy enough for me, then that's enough. So forget those sizes, it doesn't define your beauty, it doesn't define your confidence. It's just another number that you have to remember everytime you buy your outfit, thats it, end of story, nothing else.
Be proud of your body :)
I'm neither lean, nor skinny, nor fat, I am my own measurement.
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