The media and the birth of a negative self image
How many times do you open a fashion or weekly gossip magazine and are faced with the following headline “ Do you want to look like Jennifer Lopez!”? How realistic is that for the average woman that through some exercise program usually involving purchasing some exercise DVD, subscribing to some online class or taking a “magic supplement” you will look just like a famous celebrity?
The media has got an unhealthy influence when it comes to women’s looks, often leading young and impressionable women to aspire to a mere dream. Most of these celebrities have flawless features, thanks mainly to the gloss paper and creative photographers and graphic artists. Doesn’t that really explain why after so many years you look nothing like your favorite celebrity fitness guru?
Now here is the cold hard truth, the media has never been on your side. Although that’s what they want you to think, you are in this fight alone. Well not exactly, because finding the right personal trainer who helps you achieve the goals you set for yourself, is a better bet than what the magazines portray. You have been sent on a wild goose chase, seeking to reach a level of perfection that is not humanly possible.
The key to attaining the body you want, one you are comfortable in and happy with is accepting that the media and celebrity endorsed fitness plans are not you. You have been subtly manipulated to embrace this unacceptably high standard of beauty and fitness. It’s a standard that even the celebrities can’t keep up with – Photoshop does wonders and you will find many a celebrity who will now admit to it!
Now is the time to set yourself free and if you are a mother, set a good example for your daughters. Help them develop a healthy sense of self, grounded in reality, the beauty of the female form and accepting their bodies the way they are and then working hard to maintain sustainable levels of fitness and physical health. Teach them that these sophisticated marketing ploys are not the truth and we should not hold ourselves up to such false standards. Be happy in your own skin each and every day just by doing your best and being YOU!