Body image

Body image refers to how individuals sees their own body and how attractive they feel themselves to be. Body image deals with skin color, size, shape and appearance.
Nowadays, we do not respect other people’s body image instead we body shame. I was on my way to school for an afternoon lecture when I walked past these three girls and I heard one of the girls say to one of them “why are you so black” . I had to look back to check who was referred too, it was a young beautiful melanin girl , her face was down, and she couldn’t say a word. I could relate to her countenance. She was the dark one in the midst of two light skinned girls.

I once watched a show of a dark-skinned woman who said when she was seven, she entered a salon to make her hair and one of the women told the other one that why would someone’s daughter be as black as that, and even added that if she were her kid she would soak her in hypo. How could she say that to someone else’s kid. Can we do better by appreciating the dark-skinned instead of asking if they are from Kenya or Ghana?...

Poor body image is often associated with girls, but boys suffer from it, too. They can feel as though they don’t have enough muscles or six-packs abs, or that they aren’t tall enough. The problem is, a “perfect” body doesn’t really exist, at least not in the way it is defined in the media. Photos are often edited to make models thinner or enhance their features. So, chasing the perfect body can end only in disappointment. This leads to poor self-esteem, which can impact all other aspects of life.
When I was in secondary school, anytime I’m going to school I make sure I bleached my face because I was used to hearing “you’re getting darker, tee”. Most of us have heard them say one or two things about us and we are guilty of some other people too. It’s time we stop body shaming and start appreciating people for who they are. Stop calling someone fat, or say they are getting slimmer, nobody wants to hear that. It makes them sad.

Body shaming starts from home, school, peer pressure. I remember in secondary school days, anytime there’s inter-house sport, the queen of the house is always a light-skinned girl. Even while growing up it was always the light-skinned girls who got privileged . Even some guys still prefer light-skinned girls to dark-skinned girls. Even when you watching Nollywood movies, it were the light-skinned girls that will be on the cover.

You are beautiful in your shade. Every shade is beautiful. You’ll be beautiful in your shade, you don’t need to be lighter to look more beautiful. I thank God for the dark skin movement, it has made me embrace my shade. The biggest problem with body image and beauty standards is that we always give people the power to tell us how to look, and we listen forgetting that they themselves aren’t perfect. The most important thing is that you look perfect for you not for anybody.

Yours might not be skin color, it could be shape, or structure but one thing I want you to know is, always stand up for yourself because people will keep talking, and the moment you keep quiet, you start hating yourself for not looking like them. Appreciate your own body, love yourself and your body, because nobody is going to do that for you. Most pictures you see on Instagram that makes you hate your shape has been filtered more than twenty times. Don’t be intimidated by the things you see on social media. Most celebrities we see on Instagram are not like that physically.
Practice self-love. Appreciate God for how beautiful you were created. Love yourself more than anyone else, and don’t give anyone the opportunity to body shame you.
If you are a lady, carry yourself well and dress properly.
I love you for who you are🥰. Merry Christmas in advance lovers❤️❤️❤️