I am a teacher of a lovely group of fourth graders and every year I look at them and wonder how I can support them in being body positive and having a high self-esteem. Every year I find myself coming up short.
How can we counteract what the media and Hollywood have worked so tirelessly to create as our norm? How can we counteract what our young people believe when we struggle on the daily with our own body image and self-esteem? How can we counteract all of the photoshopped photos and impossible beauty standards that are thrown in their faces Every.Single.Day.?
We are living in a world where young people (both boys and girls) make comments like, "Oh, she's the fat singer!" when someone mentions the song All About That Bass. Or they make fun of each other for not wearing designer clothes and shoes. They make fun of girls for having small chests and of boys for having small muscles. They make fun of girls for not having a thigh gap and of boys for not being tall enough.
Why?
Because we have bought into the impossible expectations that are set in front of us and we accept them blindly. We don't question whether it is right or wrong ... we just say okay and follow it up with some fad diet, weight lifting, or worse - we move in the terrifying direction of eating disorders.
What we don't do (but should!) is recognize our own beautiful, fabulous selves. We should recognize that our worth is not tied to our outward beauty but to who we are as people - how beautiful we are on the inside. We should recognize that we need to plant seeds of kindness and lift others up rather than tear them down. We should recognize that our outward beauty IS beautiful. We should recognize the power of our brain and the strength in our soul. We should recognize that WE ARE ENOUGH. We are beautiful, incredible, fabulous people regardless of what the media believes is "beautiful". You is kind. You is smart. You is important. You is enough.
An amazing friend of my family recently started a movement on Facebook that is meant to empower all people to realize just how important they are. We need to act as positive role models for each other. So I encourage you to join the revolution and make a post on Facebook, Twitter or your own blogs about just how fabulous you are! Use the hashtag #fabasiam (Fab As I Am) on your posts so that we can all see just how fabulous you are and bask in your greatness with you. When fabulous calls makes sure you pick up the phone.
How can we counteract what the media and Hollywood have worked so tirelessly to create as our norm? How can we counteract what our young people believe when we struggle on the daily with our own body image and self-esteem? How can we counteract all of the photoshopped photos and impossible beauty standards that are thrown in their faces Every.Single.Day.?
We are living in a world where young people (both boys and girls) make comments like, "Oh, she's the fat singer!" when someone mentions the song All About That Bass. Or they make fun of each other for not wearing designer clothes and shoes. They make fun of girls for having small chests and of boys for having small muscles. They make fun of girls for not having a thigh gap and of boys for not being tall enough.
Why?
Because we have bought into the impossible expectations that are set in front of us and we accept them blindly. We don't question whether it is right or wrong ... we just say okay and follow it up with some fad diet, weight lifting, or worse - we move in the terrifying direction of eating disorders.
What we don't do (but should!) is recognize our own beautiful, fabulous selves. We should recognize that our worth is not tied to our outward beauty but to who we are as people - how beautiful we are on the inside. We should recognize that we need to plant seeds of kindness and lift others up rather than tear them down. We should recognize that our outward beauty IS beautiful. We should recognize the power of our brain and the strength in our soul. We should recognize that WE ARE ENOUGH. We are beautiful, incredible, fabulous people regardless of what the media believes is "beautiful". You is kind. You is smart. You is important. You is enough.
An amazing friend of my family recently started a movement on Facebook that is meant to empower all people to realize just how important they are. We need to act as positive role models for each other. So I encourage you to join the revolution and make a post on Facebook, Twitter or your own blogs about just how fabulous you are! Use the hashtag #fabasiam (Fab As I Am) on your posts so that we can all see just how fabulous you are and bask in your greatness with you. When fabulous calls makes sure you pick up the phone.
Fab As I Am - Day 1 Post
I too love my eyes. They are the part of physical me that is most complicated. They like to change color depending on the day (light blue, vibrant blue, greenish) which I think is pretty cool. They are also pretty vibrant - someone once told me they were "electric". They also are the source of my tears which tend to flow easily which I believe makes me strong not weak. #fabasiam
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