aise your hand if your stomach is your least favorite body part, if you’ve ever obsessed over making it flatter, and/or if you thought you’d finally be happy if you got lipo. Anyone? I’m definitely raising my hand.
Is it just me or does a flat stomach seem to be the main way a woman’s value or attractiveness is measured? Is it not good enough that my mind, my thoughts might arouse someone? Why is the way I treat others less interesting than the shape of my mid-section?
Celebrity culture. Model culture. Instagram culture. Beauty culture. Fitness culture. Diet culture.
Our culture is very skilled at injecting our minds with these monstrous thoughts.
The little monster that our culture so graciously gifted me grew into orthorexia, binge eating disorder, and other mental health issues.
I was able to heal by deleting my social media accounts for a while, reading the book called Intuitive Eating, and listening to podcasts about self love and body acceptance.
Now that I have healed, I find it so incredibly silly that so many of us dedicate so much of our lives to something as unimportant as getting a flatter tummy. It is a lie that a six pack of abs will make us happy! After wasting years of energy on the pursuit of a flatter stomach, I realized that I’d only be happy when I fixed my mental health and broken body image.
Culture can be cruel. Our tummies are not worth the stress.
