I just watched the most amazing documentary on Netflix called ‘Embrace’. You HAVE to watch this. It made me cry but it was also one of the most uplifting films I have seen in a long time.  I remember reading it about years ago…it’s a documentary created by Australian woman, Taryn Brumfitt, about body image.  Back in 2013 she posted a nude photo of herself having had 3 kids and compared it to her ‘before’ photo on FB and of course it went viral.  She got comments from both those calling her a ‘fat and lazy pig’ and those saying ‘thank you’ and ’beautiful’ and it created a huge buzz. As a result Taryn founded the Body Image Movement whose mission is to help people embrace their bodies. 

 

In her surveys she found that 90% of women are ‘highly dissatisfied’ with their bodies!  I can completely relate and I can tell you the vast majority of my clients have made similar comments.  They came to me for health but really a dissatisfaction with how they ‘perceived’ they looked was really the crux of why they came to see me. 

 

Women’s bodies in particular are constantly changing. When we hit puberty we start to develop curves and then if we have kids everything swells and gets bigger and doesn’t always return, then as we get older things start to wobble, wrinkle and sag…its not surprising that we have such a love-hate with our bodies. 

 

Here are some depressing statistics:

• 50% of young 13 year old American girls reported being unhappy with their body.   By the time they reached 17 years this had grown to 80%.
• Nearly 80% of young teenage girls report fears of becoming fat 
• In another study of Spanish girls almost half expressed a desire for a thinner body, despite being of a normal body weight
• In one Switzerland study of 1000 adult women (aged 30-74 years), more than 70% of these women expressed a desire to be thinner even though 73% were of a healthy weight.  This was found to be the same in older women (> 65 years); 65% were of normal weight, yet 62% of these women wished to be thinner
• In another study of  Austrian women aged between 60-70 years, 60% of them were unhappy with their body and more than half reported restricting their eating as a means to prevent weight gain
• Nearly 70% of adult women report withdrawing from activities due to their body image
• In more than 50,000 adults, 60% of women thought they were too heavy and were self-conscious about their weight, 30% reported being too uncomfortable in a swimsuit, and 20% thought that they were unattractive’.

…and then we throw in media where we are bombarded with images of the ‘perfect body’ which in reality doesn’t actually exist – most of the photos have been photoshopped and the average woman has wobbly bits and curves

• In one study of girls aged between 13-17 years, half said they wanted to be as skinny as the models they viewed in fashion magazines and reported that these magazines gave them a body to’ strive for’ (in my opinion an unattainable body)
• A survey of 548 adolescent girls found that 69% stated that the photos of models in magazines had influenced their belief of what an ‘ideal body weight’ was, while half of them reported that they wanted to lose weight after seeing such images
• Girls who frequently read glamour magazines related to weight loss are 6 times more likely to engage in extreme unhealthy weight control behaviours (e.g., taking diet pills, using laxatives, vomiting) than girls who do not read such magazines
• After television became widespread in Fiji, 11% of adolescent girls reported vomiting for weight control, 74% reported feeling at, and the prevalence of disordered eating doubled from 13% to 29%
• One study found using social media for as little as 30 minutes a day can negatively change the way young women view their own body’

 

If that doesn’t make you think wtf…then I don’t know what will!

 

A recent study was done on 1429 women (aged 18-77 years) who watched the film ‘Embrace’ and found that ‘44.1% felt they had higher levels of body appreciation and body confidence, many reported engaging less in dieting (19.6%), and some reported lowered disordered eating (2.8%), since seeing Embrace. Women who had seen the film also reported significantly higher levels of body appreciation…and significantly lower levels of internalization of body ideals, self-objectification, body shame, and dietary restraint, than women who had not seen the film’.  Maybe this film should be shown in ALL high schools. 

 

As a naturopath I tread a thin line between wanting women to be healthy so they can live the life they want as I know first hand how hard it is to go for your dreams when you feel like shit.…but I also know that just because you are slim or have a waist circumference under 88cm (if you are a woman)  doesn’t mean you are healthy either. Body shape and size doesn’t simply = good health – it’s more complex than that. 

Let me be clear here – there is a difference between beauty and health. Currently the research shows that if you have a waist circumference greater than 88cm you are at risk of metabolic diseases  and the health consequences of obesity are real.  It also doesn’t mean that if you have a larger body shape that you are not beautiful, desirable, intelligent or worthy of respect and to be seen or heard. 

I also know that having a big butt, and ‘thighs’ and a curvaceous shape is actually a really healthy sign…its time women embraced being women whatever our size.  Look around the world and you will see that what is considered beautiful is culturally defined, it is historically defined and it is superficial, transient and completely constructed. It is not based on reality. Read that again…it is not based on reality. You are real and you are beautiful!

 

Look at yourself naked in the mirror everyday and tell yourself out loud you are actually friggin beautiful. Yes even if you feel stupid, uncomfortable and don’t believe it. Please don’t stop living by not being intimate with your partner or participate in an activity because you don’t like your body. You were not born in this world to be a spectator on the side lines. Don’t waste your life. 

 

Just look at what your body has done.  If you have a wobbly belly because you were bloody fortunate enough to carry your children then be grateful – those stretch marks mean something miracaculous and there are plenty of women who would be beyond grateful for them.  Those hips and thighs mean you have you have oestrogen that will protect your heart and bones.   

Focus on taking care of your body, showing it love and compassion and kindness. Focus on health and longevity not weight and body shape. And if you are a woman it is your responsibility to lift other women up and not pull them apart based on their body size. Be careful what you say in front of your daughters or nieces. We are all role models. Someone somewhere is watching and listening to us.  Change starts with us! As Taryn says in her film ‘your body is not an ornament, it’s the vehicle to your dreams’. 

 

Trailer: https://youtu.be/ISHzzBGyt4g

References

1. https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2458-13-1104
2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9547663/
3. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17078123/
4. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/55f45174e4b0fb5d95b07f39/55f45539e4b09d46d4847b60/55f45539e4b09d46d4847c93/1255277563001/Beauty+Comes+of+Age+2006+Dove+Global+Study+on+Aging+Beauty+and+Well-being.pdf
5. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12042229/
6. https://breakbingeeating.com/body-image-statistics/
7. https://bmcwomenshealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12905-019-0870-7
8. https://bodyimagemovement.com/embrace/

 

Email me at sarah@sarah-brenchley.com or book a free discovery call to discuss how I can help you and go to https://sarah-brenchley.com/links for free resources and join the best Facebook Group ever  – Women’s WellBeing Circle. 

Go to my You Tube channel to watch the video versions of my blogs: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmS_kdkO4JsbqyhvfLwOPtA