what is our alternative?

 “It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society” ~ Krishnamurti

 In a brief foray into psychology in my 3^rd year of university, I investigated the media’s impact on eating disorders.

The news is that— surprise, surprise!— the media really impacts our body image! After all, on many advertising labels, there are unnaturally skinny, bronzed, hairless ladies, which often inform our ideal of feminine beauty. Billboards displaying thin lingerie models, gossip magazines ridiculing celebrities for weight-gain, unusually-thin heroines in films and television, a plethora of exercise ploys and weight-loss remedies—these things seem to announce that people’s bodies must be changed, reduced, and improved.

Media is not the sole cause of anorexia, bulimia, etc.—of course not—but it is a big factor.

It’s brilliant salesmanship of course; if women keep hoping to reach an impossible “look”, then they are going to buy a lot more hair, body, beauty products! But if we are confident and happy with ourselves, in love with our own beauty, peaceful with our scars and imperfections—how much are we going to buy?

Feminine beauty is as variable as human nature; the ideal beauty for each woman is different. However, there is one unifying factor: health.

Instead of accepting the ideals of beauty used to promote consumerism, let’s start from another perspective. How do we promote our health, both mental and physical? What can we learn about nutrition, about caring for our bodies?

What can we do—without spending money, from our own homes, from the woods and sea and fields—to promote and enhance that natural beauty?