This very old magazine was on display at a museum we visited during our vacation. It was so old I couldn’t find a date, but one of the articles mentions Max Baer, who lived 1909-1959, so it’s somewhere in that date range.
It got me wondering…how long have women been trying to physically change themselves to please others? Has it always been this way? At one time a “heftier” physique implied wealth…wide hips meant good offspring…when did thin become chic?
When did the shape of a woman’s body determine her worth? I’m guessing there is a connection between the fact that for the longest time women were property and others determined their value (no men-bashing please). Women were routinely scrutinized as the feminine ideal changed…
I’m not immune to this either. In the decades that I battled anorexia and bulimia I internalized my weight issues as major character flaws – I was weak, lacked self-control, slovenly, undesirable…none of these things were actually true, yet my physical appearance did begin to define me. I simply didn’t understand food or nutrition and ate very poorly. Yet in my mind, I was a failure because I couldn’t control my weight.
Self-acceptance is achievable for all of us. Know that your perception of lack is a misperception that can be corrected with awareness and effort.