A friend and I were looking at photos of the new curvy Barbie. “Now men want a big backside,” I complained. He responded, “Yes, but they also want a thigh gap.”
Somehow I felt as if I was at McDonald’s, ordering a meal. Yes to the hamburger, no to the fries, yes to the vanilla shake.
As if we could order woman parts to make the perfect body. As if having the right body parts were all that mattered.It’s been that way for a long time.
The preferred body image for a woman in Ancient Rome was fleshy, with a full tummy and breasts. Of course they didn’t have surgery to alter their shapes, so you were stuck with what you were born with. Or, for that full tummy, stuck with your access to food.
Today, with “manscaping,” there’s more pressure on men to look just right, as it was for the Ancient Romans. Back then, as it is today, no fleshy tummy. Muscles were it.
I know we all need to love the shape we have. But it’s easy to pick up negative messages from advertising because it’s all around us. The good thing to know is that it’s always been that way.
For me, that helps.