Tuesday 11 December 2012

Surprise! You're Beautiful!


Today my personal Facebook page blew up with this image:


It was followed by this message:
"An open letter to Loblaws:


I am writing this letter as a customer, a schoolteacher, and a concerned member of society.
This evening, I was in your Dominion location in Conception Bay South, Newfoundland, when I saw an issue of the National Enquirer that I found extremely offensive. The cover story for this particular issue is "Best and Worst Beach Bodies." The magazine displays on its cover numerous photos of women with captions such as "Beauty, blubber and cellulite," "Belly disaster" and "Larger than life."
More and more, we are seeing the detrimental effects of bullying in our school system. These magazines, which are displayed prominently at every checkout, are a very real form of bullying. What's more, they further perpetuate the idea that women should have flawless bodies, thereby exacerbating the problem of negative body image, particularly among female youths, but also among all sexes and age groups.

As a schoolteacher, how am I to demonstrate to my students the importance of treating others with respect when everywhere they look society is sending a message to the contrary? I shudder at the thought of my teenage students seeing such magazines at your checkouts, only to question their own bodies.

I am sure that Loblaws has not fully considered the damaging effects that these magazines can have on teenagers, and society as a whole, and that you will agree that they have no place in your stores. I have recently seen many of your ads which promote your community involvement, including one filmed in St. John's. If your company is truly dedicated to making a positive change in the community, then you will act swiftly to remedy this problem. I believe that as a responsible member of the Canadian business community, it is only prudent for your company to remove these negative tabloids from your stores.

Sincerely,

Brandon Field"

I agree with Brandon. I know that it's only natural to judge others, but this magazine cover is a perfect example of how things can go too far. Personally, when I look at my pictures before posting them here on the blog, I often find myself upset because I don't like the way I look. I'm not alone in this. Is it because of how the media portrays beauty? Maybe, but ask yourself this: Who buys these magazines, and who is the media entertaining? It's us.

'Perfect' and 'beautiful' are whatever we decide they are. No matter what body type, size or weight you are, there's beauty in it. If you don't find someone attractive, that's fine, but we should never let ourselves belittle others just because they don't fit into our 'beauty' spectrum.

You are beautiful. You are handsome. You are someone's favorite.

Give someone else a compliment today, and don't be suprised when it feels like you've given one to yourself.

Hugs and poops,

Nichole

7 comments:

  1. You are such a smart cookie Miss Nichole!! Self esteem and self worth cannot be measured by dress size. If anyone thinks the ticket to happiness or to love is in a "perfect" body, they are going to be very mistaken. Take control of your health and feed your soul. What you need is a healthy body...not a perfect one.

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    1. Thanks for the support :)
      I know that this magazines sell in huge numbers, so I don't know if Loblaws will actually listen to this, but it's worth the effort, I think,

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    2. So true!! I feel terrible about myself when I see a magazine (like the above) call a size 2 girl with a little cellulite "fat and saggy." I mean, holy cow, who doesn’t have a little of that somewhere?!

      I think they mean for something like this to be a confidence booster for us "regular people" - maybe. But this is the 21st century, and I think our society can look at others and genuinely be happy and celebrate their success. We're not all a bunch of jealous green giants...I hope.

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    3. Exactly!
      I think you're right about the intention behind it being to make us "regular people" feel better about ourselves, but it doesn't really work because we look for those 'flaws' in ourselves. Geeze, I mean, if we didn't have cellulite or if when we bend we didn't get roles, we'd be plastic!
      I named my roles, haha
      They mean I'm lucky enough to be well fed! :)

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  2. Thanks for posting this. It makes my heart happy to hear of someone challenging these types of media, because I agree that it is harmful. Everywhere we go, we are bombarded with images of supposed beauty that don't fit most actual people. Women are not the sum total of our bodies and looks! And you're also right that beauty is all around us, despite with the media tells us. And yes, part of the issue is that people buy the magazines, otherwise they wouldn't sell and they would publish something else. What is beautiful anyway but a societal construct? Therefore it is what we say it is. There is nothing more beautiful than love, friendship, kindness. Everyone has some part of their body or selves that is beautiful.

    The best way to win this is to fight, and to stop buying these types of magazines. Especially for children and youth, who are very vulnerable to eating disorders.

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    Replies
    1. You'll be happy to know that because of this effort, the magazine has been taken out of all Newfoundland Loblaws locations :)

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    2. Oh wow! I am very happy to hear that :)
      Next, the world?

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