Platform Essay, as Promised.

Name:  Loren Baker

Body Love: Inspiring Confidence, Acceptance, and Love in YOUR Body

            “I am so fat.” “I can’t stand my thighs…”“My nose is HUGE!” You hear it all the time, chances are you’ve mentioned something along those lines about a part of your body that you don’t like, I’ll admit to being guilty of it too. So many moments in our lives are spent agonizing over things make us unique and beautiful or even something that we have the ability to change and/ or improve if we wanted or put the effort into, but instead just complain about it. What I want to see, and what I am working for, is a world where when you look into the mirror you see the beauty you behold, not ‘that nagging cellulite’ that won’t seem to go away. 

            In today’s society, a lot of pressure is put on women to look like the impossibly thin supermodels and actresses you see all over media. In magazines, commercials, TV shows, and movies, everywhere you look, the vision of attractiveness is skinny, tall, long-legged, and perfectly complected bombshells wearing less then modest clothing. Even in the Miss America system, contestants were also found to be thinner and thinner over time, and winners of the pageant after 1970 consistently weighed less than the other contestants. Women look see those perfectly toned and airbrushed bodies and then look at their own body in disdain. 

Did you know the average American woman is 5’4” tall and weighs 140 pounds? The average American model is 5’11” tall and weighs 117 pounds. That’s quite a bit of difference. Especially considering that the perfect body in the 1950’s was Marilyn Monroe’s curvy, size 14 figure. The worst part is, the age of self-consciousness and insecurity is getting younger and younger. According to the National Institute on Media and the Family, in a survey of girls 9 and 10 years old, 40% have tried to lose weight. One study says that by age thirteen, 53% of American girls are "unhappy with their bodies." By the time girls hit seventeen, the number will have grown to 78%. That is scary to me. My own little sisters are 11 and 9! When I was that age, I was concerned with convincing my mom to buy me those cool ‘Spice Girl’ sparkly platform sneakers, not dietary supplements. 

Not only are women victims of the ideal ‘look’, men also get pulled into the idea that in order to be found attractive, they need to look like GI Joe: huge biceps, washboard abs, and thick, muscular legs. Steroids are on the rise, not only in college and professional sports, but also in high schools. Also, the amount of cosmetic surgery bought by men is steadily increasing to feed into this ‘All-American Man’ image.

I have chosen to support this cause because I have heard so many people I know and love just flat out hate on themselves. I have seen a 6 year old girl cry over the feeling like her dress makes her look fat. This needs to end. We need to bring a culture of body acceptance to life. With a local, state, and/or national title exposure, I will have more opportunities to share my positive message. I have already started a new fundraising venture called Beholder’s Beauty. I will be holding photo shoot sessions where I will not only shoot you, but also edit some of your photos, and put the collection on a CD to use at your disposable. Proceeds will first go to Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty/Movement for Self-Esteem Foundations. I am also in the planning process of starting a program based on the programs and toolkits offered by Dove. The program will be for both male and female, any ages. Once the program is up and running I will divide proceeds evenly, as well as have sponsors to help fund. I’m excited to get all of these things going, and even more excited to change lives, because I never want to hear a child cry about their body again. Everyone has beauty, they just need help realizing it sometimes!