When Purba Ray of A-musing fame asks you for a Guest Post, you really feel like you have arrived. She is one of the most widely acclaimed and seriously talented bloggers out there. Her sparkling wit, razor-sharp sarcasm, delightful humor and heart-tugging sensitivity make for a blog that is truly a delight to read and savor. Add to all that, she is warm, humble, truly lovely and a dear friend. So here’s my post on her blog. Hope you like it:
Yes, Body Image Comes From Parents!
Little girls even before their teenage years are dieting these days. Ask any adolescent and chances are that she is unhappy with the way she looks. Food is a cuss word for her. It makes her fat! Fat is ugly; it is undesirable! She wants to look hot and hip just like those models that prance around on TV, adorn the cover of magazines, are arm candies of all the hot guys she loves and play out larger-than-life roles in her mind’s eyes. Young ladies are depressed, deflated fighting this battle to look a little more thin and a little more fair. The marketers whose sales are on the rise are laughing their way to banks. And no, they are not the only ones to blame. Yes, they promote an aspirational standard of beauty in society to peddle their wares – read beauty products, fairness creams, health foods etc. But, you my dear sweetie, yes YOU the parent are equally responsible. What you look at me incredulously? What did you do?
Read more on Purba’s blog http://www.purba-ray.com/2013/07/yes-body-image-comes-from-parents.html
Good one! My comments on Purba’s blog!
Thanks Rahul!
Rachna i have spoken my angst on the same in my post too. But of course i don’t own any of those skills that one would read and savor. Although it feels good when someone sometimes strays in and offers perspective. Hope u find that time and inclination to see what i have to say…for i’ve just given up to being thin…which the world now calls slim. i guess in time all the youngsters too will realize the futility of trying to be what you can’t. After all how long can one diet…exercise and then finally be worried if even a wee bit of sweet is what you have succumbed to. Finally u reconcile.
i just wish and hope it is soon and the younger generations who are going to be mothers one day understand that thin is not being healthy…
i wish one day that happens when everybody yes everybody understands that fitness and being of a certain size is not the destination but an improved level of performance of the body and a superior quality of life is…
Share the URL Shivani!
In the post that I’ve written, I’ve tried to find the reason behind children and later girls and women feeling inadequate about their own bodies and self. Self esteem often comes from parents and most of us fail at inculcating that in our kids successfully. Thus, all our lives we spend in pleasing others and trying to be something that we think will get us some acceptance and love.
shivanidiwani64.blogspot.in
Heading over to read.
Okay, read, loved and commented. Sad shift in values and the things that matter. Well written, Rachna. Thanks for a great read!
Thank you dear Vidya! So glad that you liked the post.
Hey Rachna, I loved it. 🙂 It is very true, the root cause to this new syndrome in young kids is the attitude of the parents. Sharing it with all the mothers, I know.
Thank you so much, Rekha! Glad you enjoyed the post.
Nothing more to say except – Absolutely True! 🙂 Mothers want to fit into their little girls’ clothes and little girls want to wear their mommys’ big shoes, and that’s what we call Parenting Today. 🙂
Very aptly put, Sakshi! Mothers trying to fit into little girls’ clothes and little girls want to fit into mommy’s shoes! Thanks for reading.
Is that me you’re talking about? Gosh! I must show this to my family to stop their cribbing :p
On a serious note, your post has struck a chord with many of us. It’s a must read for all of us and not just parents.
Thank you Purba! I am glad it did strike a chord with so many. Just goes to show that this obsession with physical beauty has broken all barriers. And parents are not doing much to better the situation.
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left a comment on this post on Purba’s blog …. and Purba is right this post has struck chord with many of us… nobody is seeing this as a serious issue but it is killing people’s confidence and make them do some bizzarre things