Hall of Shame

So this post is not about a specific thing or person but more about the pressure that society puts on girls to look a certain way.  I have recently been thinking about this a lot as a result of one of my groups.  The topic of this session was self-esteem and one girl openly shared about how hard it is being a little heavier.  This can be especially difficult for younger girls who get bullied and harassed because of the way that they look.  It is especially disheartening that this happens at school.  A place with the sole purpose of learning and becoming smarter.  But all some girls can think about is their weight and how to avoid being made fun of, and not what they should be learning.  For those girls, of any age, that are outside the beauty norms it can feel like you are never pretty enough, or skinny enough, or sexy enough.  Even in tonight's episode of Glee one character could not believe that a guy was attracted to her because she wasn't "the pretty girl."  


It still amazes me that after all the advances women in our society have made, they are still consistently judged on the way that they look.  How many of us have looked at another woman and thought "Why is she wearing that?" or "That outfit is not flattering."  I know I am guilty of this.  At the same time, when watching TV or looking in a magazine, women often compare themselves to the models and actresses.  When a lot of the time what we see is not even real.  If you have not seen this video it is amazing because it shows the way that a person is transformed from reality to what you see if an ad.

I wonder if we will ever live in a society in which all women are happy and satisfied with their bodies.  If a girl that doesn't fit within society's beauty norms, will be able to love herself and not be made fun of at school.  Or if things are going to continue to get worse as technology advances and we can make more digital alterations to pictures.