Sadly, we have reached a standstill within firstly ourselves, and then within our surrounding society as a whole when it comes to our definitive ranking of complementing one another. What used to be a gold standard of compliments has inevitably taken occupancy on the back burner of importance to what we now regard as an endearing compliment toward women. Simply stating “Wow! You look amazing in that dress!” or “Your hair looks great today, did you do something new?” is no longer the standard form of flattering a woman. Today, during a time where it is nearly impossible to love oneself in a world that is continuously telling you not to, it is shocking that both women and girls have not stepped up the plate and eliminated the “complement” “OMG! You look so skinny, I’m jealous” from our vocabularies as a whole.
Truthfully it is not shocking that young girls regard this form of compliments so highly in today’s society. Everywhere you look young girls and women are forced to idolize and look up to rail thin girls on our television screens, ads, magazines and at the touch of our fingertips on multiple social media apps. What with popularized Instagram accounts such as @SkinnyGirlsMakeGraves (whatever that means) and an entire page on Tumblr entitled #Thinspiration. The problem with these accounts and this mentality is not that these girls are in fact thin (sometimes shockingly so), it is that through their carefully worded photo captions and quotes like “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels” a popular line found on multiple fitness inspiration accounts, that they are ultimately telling girls to change their lifestyle in order to achieve happiness and greatness. As if it is somehow unachievable with their current bodies. There are so many things wrong with this.
It is not until we realize how harming it can be to comment on another person’s weight or body image (whether your intentions are positive or not) will we as a society of powerful and intelligent females begin to compliment one another on aspects of our true selves that really matter. The problem with continuously praising the girl in size 0 jeans about how skinny she is and how jealous you may be, is that this girl may fall in love with this praise and will continue to try and impress. Obviously, this seems to be the case with our generation that is currently obsessed with documenting every aspects of our lives via social media. However, all hope is not lost for a generation that is so caught up with appearances rather than talent, skill, education and uniqueness. Celebrities like UFC champion @RondaRousey have paved a new path for girls of all shapes and sizes to have a voice while still feeling sexy, feminine and confident with their body images. By starting the latest hashtag trend “Don’t be a Do Nothing B****” Rousey is inspiring girls that essentially do nothing with their potential other than looking good on the outside for appearances, to get up and do something unique and challenging to stand apart.
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