The problem with body image, dieting, and spanx
I witness a lot working at my retail job. I meet a lot of people — strange, rude, talkative, shy, aggressive, rich, foreign, demanding. I could go on. I'm also nonjudgemental and open to a lot of things — if a woman wants to talk to me about her boobs and what her boyfriend/husband likes/doesn't like, sure I'm down with that conversation.
But one thing that bothers me is when people make a big deal about body image. Our society has blinded us with photoshopped images of flawless models and celebrities flaunting their tiny bodies. Girls are constantly trying to transform their bodies to look like them, no matter what it takes. I've witnessed eating disorders, I've walked the halls with anorexic girls, I hear girls talk about food and diets. All. The. Time. It's sad to see. Sometimes at my internship when there's free food (let's say cookies) I'm the one taking the largest portion and sometimes I feel judged for eating so much, but girl, I don't care, I only live once and I'll walk it off anyways.
This past weekend I was helping a mother and daughter in the fitting room. The mother was extremely nice and grateful for everything I was doing for her and her 13-year-old daughter. I measured both of them and got the mother several bras to try on and had her tell me which were her favorite. Her daughter had a spirit day at school where she needed a pajama outfit so I brought in a stylist to wardrobe her. But I kept picking up on things her mother was saying — things that bothered me.
Her daughter was not fat. Or skinny. She had that baby fat around her face and a little tummy that she would probably eventually grow out of. But her mother insisted on hiding it. She kept telling us to find her daughter clothes that would work well for her body. Okay, great, as we all should be doing. But when I told her we had new high-waisted yoga pants that are great for pulling it all in, she was so excited to get her daughter in those. Paired with an oversized sweater on top.
This girl hated everything her mother picked out for her, but loved almost everything our stylist picked out. Then the mother asked us if we had shapewear we could have her try, you know in case she needed to wear it with a dress in the near future. Excuse me? She's 13. I don't think you need to be telling your daughter she needs to wear shapewear. She's growing. Teach her to love her body from a young age — not to hide it.
She told her the yoga pants I brought would be great for their cycling sessions, so I'm sure she's active. And by looking at the fit mother, she probably eats well. Now I couldn't say anything from my position except grab her what she asked for and do my job but it bothered me. This girl is probably going to grow up and when she hits high school and college, she's going to be constantly worried about her appearance. Oh, I forgot to mention this girl was wearing full on makeup, including false lashes. I assumed she came from cheerleading practice or something similar so I can't say much on that. But I felt bad for this girl.
The next day I read an article about a new app called SkinneePix that promises to make you look skinnier in your selfies. You can choose 5, 10, or 15 pounds. It's 99 cents in the iTunes store. What? We're so lazy we can't even use Photoshop to make us look skinnier in our photos if we wanted to.
I believe in taking care of your body — after all you only have one body for your whole life. I eat pretty healthy throughout the week, not because I'm dieting but because it gives me more energy and makes me feel better, inside and out. If I eat a large portion of creamy pasta for lunch, I crash. And then I'll have 10 more hours to get through if I'm working both jobs. But I obviously treat myself because I love food and I only live once. Like last night when I went out to watch the NCAA championship game (F*** UConn) I had wings and mac 'n cheese. Did I regret it? Not at all.
My retail job is in Herald Square, an area surrounded by fast food, delis, and no healthy choices. The break room is filled with McDonald's and Burger King bags, pizza, and chinese food. I get comments almost daily about what I'm eating: "OMG that looks so good, I wish I had time to cook!" Girl, I work 70 hours a week and still find time, I'm sure you can too. Sometimes people come up to me and say "I'm on a diet. What should I get on my 30?" I say girl, there's nothing healthy around here. Then they go and get Subway or a salad from the deli loaded with ranch dressing. Girl, that's not a diet. (Not dissing on Subway, I love Subway, but you don't know what you're putting in your body with all those preservatives, questionable meat, and one foot of bread).
Ok, there's my rant. Even with all the information out there and magazine articles loaded with "healthy" advice, fitness plans, and new diets, I still think my generation is under educated on the matter. Most of the people I work with do not need to diet, but it's about taking care of your body, eating well, and enjoying things in moderation.
What do you think, when do you think a girl should start to think about dieting? Or wearing shapewear?
But one thing that bothers me is when people make a big deal about body image. Our society has blinded us with photoshopped images of flawless models and celebrities flaunting their tiny bodies. Girls are constantly trying to transform their bodies to look like them, no matter what it takes. I've witnessed eating disorders, I've walked the halls with anorexic girls, I hear girls talk about food and diets. All. The. Time. It's sad to see. Sometimes at my internship when there's free food (let's say cookies) I'm the one taking the largest portion and sometimes I feel judged for eating so much, but girl, I don't care, I only live once and I'll walk it off anyways.
This past weekend I was helping a mother and daughter in the fitting room. The mother was extremely nice and grateful for everything I was doing for her and her 13-year-old daughter. I measured both of them and got the mother several bras to try on and had her tell me which were her favorite. Her daughter had a spirit day at school where she needed a pajama outfit so I brought in a stylist to wardrobe her. But I kept picking up on things her mother was saying — things that bothered me.
Her daughter was not fat. Or skinny. She had that baby fat around her face and a little tummy that she would probably eventually grow out of. But her mother insisted on hiding it. She kept telling us to find her daughter clothes that would work well for her body. Okay, great, as we all should be doing. But when I told her we had new high-waisted yoga pants that are great for pulling it all in, she was so excited to get her daughter in those. Paired with an oversized sweater on top.
This girl hated everything her mother picked out for her, but loved almost everything our stylist picked out. Then the mother asked us if we had shapewear we could have her try, you know in case she needed to wear it with a dress in the near future. Excuse me? She's 13. I don't think you need to be telling your daughter she needs to wear shapewear. She's growing. Teach her to love her body from a young age — not to hide it.
She told her the yoga pants I brought would be great for their cycling sessions, so I'm sure she's active. And by looking at the fit mother, she probably eats well. Now I couldn't say anything from my position except grab her what she asked for and do my job but it bothered me. This girl is probably going to grow up and when she hits high school and college, she's going to be constantly worried about her appearance. Oh, I forgot to mention this girl was wearing full on makeup, including false lashes. I assumed she came from cheerleading practice or something similar so I can't say much on that. But I felt bad for this girl.
The next day I read an article about a new app called SkinneePix that promises to make you look skinnier in your selfies. You can choose 5, 10, or 15 pounds. It's 99 cents in the iTunes store. What? We're so lazy we can't even use Photoshop to make us look skinnier in our photos if we wanted to.
I believe in taking care of your body — after all you only have one body for your whole life. I eat pretty healthy throughout the week, not because I'm dieting but because it gives me more energy and makes me feel better, inside and out. If I eat a large portion of creamy pasta for lunch, I crash. And then I'll have 10 more hours to get through if I'm working both jobs. But I obviously treat myself because I love food and I only live once. Like last night when I went out to watch the NCAA championship game (F*** UConn) I had wings and mac 'n cheese. Did I regret it? Not at all.
My retail job is in Herald Square, an area surrounded by fast food, delis, and no healthy choices. The break room is filled with McDonald's and Burger King bags, pizza, and chinese food. I get comments almost daily about what I'm eating: "OMG that looks so good, I wish I had time to cook!" Girl, I work 70 hours a week and still find time, I'm sure you can too. Sometimes people come up to me and say "I'm on a diet. What should I get on my 30?" I say girl, there's nothing healthy around here. Then they go and get Subway or a salad from the deli loaded with ranch dressing. Girl, that's not a diet. (Not dissing on Subway, I love Subway, but you don't know what you're putting in your body with all those preservatives, questionable meat, and one foot of bread).
Ok, there's my rant. Even with all the information out there and magazine articles loaded with "healthy" advice, fitness plans, and new diets, I still think my generation is under educated on the matter. Most of the people I work with do not need to diet, but it's about taking care of your body, eating well, and enjoying things in moderation.
What do you think, when do you think a girl should start to think about dieting? Or wearing shapewear?
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