Bodies of Models Aren't Reality for Teenage Girls

I find that many teenage girls, including my daughter, are fixated on their appearance—mostly their weight. Unfortunately, in today’s society if you’re not a size 0 or close to it, then you’re allegedly overweight. Where does this thinking come from? 

We all have seen the Victoria Secret models or the bodies of celebrities such as Christina Aguilera, Keira Knightley and Britney Spears plastered in the media and we think to ourselves how we’d really like to look like that. Who wouldn’t?  However, I believe there is some negativity that can be portrayed and passed on to our teenage daughters with this model body thinking.

When I was a teen, I was told to eat apples and bananas as my afternoon snack and didn’t have anything unhealthy in my house to dive into as much as I wanted it. I didn’t want apples or bananas, I wanted the “good” stuff—junk food. I wanted chips, cookies and sugary cereal! I was also very active growing up and involved in sports and so I wasn’t overly concerned about my weight and really never thought much about it. Weight wasn’t the daily thought that it is in today’s society for many.

Now, raising a teen myself, do I encourage my daughter to eat healthy? Yes! If she wants junk food aka the “good” stuff, do I discourage it? No! I have always been apprehensive about ever mentioning anything to my daughter about her weight or what she is putting in her mouth. She is now a slender teen and eats very healthy and works out, however, there was a time a few years ago where she put on some weight and it was obvious to me, but I never said a word. I was afraid to. I was afraid because I felt that if I did mention that I noticed she was gaining weight that there was a possibility of her taking my comment to the extreme ( bulimia, anorexia, diet pills, etc.).  I thought the worst, so I said nothing. Eventually she realized that she had gained some weight and, on her own, took the initiative to lose it.

My daughter, as well as many teenage girls, believe that having the “perfect” body is going to make a difference with how they feel about themselves and how others view them. What I tell my daughter, and always have, is if we look at these models who are very thin, augmented and made up by backstage professionals, are we looking at day-to-day reality? No! Be yourself and don’t worry so much about how others view you. We are all beautiful in our own ways—small, medium, or large!