writing

There is too much emphasis on body perfection in our society but it is changing. I think in the past five years, there has been a shift in society regarding body image in mass media and social media. Groups such as Always #LikeAGirl and #AerieREAL are some of the campaigns that have promoted this change in seeing young girls and women. Not only are these groups supporting positive images of females, but also, breaking down the social ideal-stereotypical image of how they should look. There is also greater diversity in shape, race, and gender in women across different social media and film. For example, Ashley Graham, Laverne Cox, and Nikkie de Jager. For a long time, “Girl’s and women’s bodies [were] objects for others to visually consume” (Heldman, n.d). This was a major selling point for magazine companies such as Playboy, Sports Illustrated, Cosmopolitan, Men’s Fitness, and Maxim. Their covers usually display women in provocative poses and wearing little to no clothes. Over the years, young girls and women developed eating disorders, low self-esteem, and other mental health issues.

In Stein’s (2017) article, the quote that interested me was, “Forward-thinking parents and staff are more likely to provide quality sexuality education, while those who are less liberal and believe that providing this education will lead to harm, fail to do so” (pg. 143). I thought it was interesting in the word choice in how Stein described the two groups of parents. He used words such as “forward-thinking” and “less-liberal” to describe these opposing viewpoints. From interpretation, his assumption is that conservative or “less-liberal” parents are not thinking in the best interest of their children. In general, a majority of children are taught a certain level of sex education. This is either in the form of abstinence or waiting until marriage to have a sexual relationship. From this perspective, children who do have a form of intellectual disability be taught the same concepts. This week’s reading focused on emphasizing that people with any type of disability are also sexual beings and want to explore their sexual identity and desires.

In the words of Yarber (2019), “Good health requires us to know and understand our bodies, to feel comfortable with them” (pg.353). I think Yarber’s words connect well with both Stein’s and Heldman’s articles. To have a healthy and meaningful understanding of your body, you have to first feel confident and comfortable with yourself. In regards to Stein’s article, there is pushback against parents who want their children to remain ignorant about sex due to their disability.

Yarber (2019) also stated, “Many of us are willing to pay high costs-physical, emotional, and financial-to meet the expectations of our culture and to feel worthy, loveable, and sexually attractive” (pg. 353). Similar to Heldman’s argument, women are especially deceptive to this unrealistic and false image. For example, many women turn to extreme plastic surgery procedures or other medical changes to make themselves appear similar to a celebrity they think is ideal. Yarber’s message is important because it pushes back against the over-sexualization of women.