A Woman’s Life Journey of Body
Acceptance Part 2 of 3: Teen Women Body Blues The teen
years present a mix of fears related to body image for girls. This is magnified
with normal insecurities regarding self-acceptance. Mixed messages are present from society’s
view of what is beauty. Girls are transforming into women as their bodies
develop at different paces, sizes and shapes.
 One memory
that stands out to me in my body image journey as a teen was the way I felt
around my petite friends. One friend was
small and cute, a cheerleader, and did not seem to have any fears at all around
guys. I “felt” the exact opposite from her….big, clumsy (I was NOT a cheerleader)
and was insecure around guys. I equated
all of this to not being beautiful as a woman. The main focus I remember was the
thought that I was not good enough because I was too big, clumsy and fat. My body image dominated my thoughts,
blanketing my insecurities about inner self-image. I was not accepting of myself, much less my
body.
Messages
about our bodies come from many sources and can be mean, and hurtful, staying
with a woman into their journey of life.
We begin to think abstractly around fifteen. We begin to have the capacity
to understand our body image in it’s uniqueness at this critical time if we are
educated with correct information to help us be more compassionate to ourselves
and our bodies. We have the opportunity
to make a positive difference in young women’s body acceptance and self-image.
 Strategy: Continue a Life Map for the Teen years. If you are a mother of a teen girl, spend
time looking at fashion magazines together and noticing what you and your
daughter feel and think about the pictures of the women modeling. Talk together
about your reactions and talk about healthy ways to look at body image. A
couple of books that promote positive body image are:
Posted shortly will be Part 3: Moving into Body Acceptance for Women. It will be the final
of three blog entries on Body Acceptance and will include a list of books that
you might find helpful in your journey. ~ Susan |
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