By Zoe Carter
Through the entirety of middle school sucking in stomachs was a sport. Having an exposed piece of tummy or anything that wasn't a washboard or rock hard was like an open target in a war zone. What people told us, but we did not choose to believe, was that our bodies will change all our lives but grades seven to nine is when they take the most significant leap. With this change in our bodies, people fail to discuss that there is also a change in our minds. We were all going through the same things but refused to believe it was normal. In our own minds we were all individually disgusting and alone. Feeling alone can make one do questionable things. We took our own insecurities and projected them onto each other. All of this time we could have been having open conversations and supporting one another, spreading confidence.
Looking back on the girls currently at that age I can see it now. See the pain and frustration of not knowing what comes with changing bodies. Because the reality is, with breasts comes excess arm fat. With growing hips comes a bigger stomach. The ‘ideal figure’ that everyone is trying to achieve, large breasts, big hips and butt, thigh gap, and a flat stomach, is physically impossible. Yet this is the image that is being drilled into the minds of young, adolescent girls through the media with no other access to realistic images of what the other body types look like. The ‘normal’ body is what you are given.
There are attempts at reaching out and offering support from some schools and parents, but the past generations have been raised to not talk about things like this. When there is someone reaching out they are not prepared and hand us an outdated pamphlet about puberty. After a while we silently fade away and put up a wall of pretend. Snapping at each other or whispering under your breath about someone's outfit is a way to validate yourself. Teenage girls could cut you like glass but just as easily shatter. Puberty is something every single person faces whether it be at an early age or later, it happens. This is a time where all of the biggest changes start to settle in as well as when we close ourselves to the outside world the most. This is when we need reminders that these changes are natural and most importantly, are happening to everyone.
One simply cannot control natural fluctuations in one's body weight, size, or shape. A healthy body and mind come hand in hand and there is not enough discussion about how mental health affects physical health. Being in check with what your mind and body truly need and being confident in what makes you happy is the best way to stay healthy. If you think a healthy body is portrayed by how it looks then you are sorely mistaken especially when advertised as a ‘healthy’ body in the media is far from reality. The reality is that no matter your body type, the amount of metabolism you possess, your age or lifestyle, your body will continue to grow and change throughout your lifetime. This is something that should be accepted and encouraged by the public and the media, not brushed under a rug. If we continue having this conversation about body positivity in a realistic format it will provide support to those struggling with their changing bodies. Knowing there are people combating the same struggles is extremely comforting and could start a clean slate for a more supportive and loving generation.