The Factors That Influence Our Way of Thinking

Modern societies might think that having a curved body shape is a sign of beauty, and this, as a whole is considered to be very healthy. However, in Canada we live in a media oriented nation, where we have been brainwashed with the idea that having skinny, flat bodies portrays a healthy life style and attractiveness. In all magazines that promote health and in most television shows many of the girls being shown are young and skinny. We have been convinced to believe that if we look just like them, then this is the right and the healthy way of living. Many people including family and friends judge our bodies if they do not fit the model described above. They criticize the appearance and the way we present them to the others around us. There are several factors, which build up all these undesirable assumptions. In this essay it will be argued that this negative judgment is influenced highly by the media, the people who take part in our lives, culture, influence by the opposite sex, as well as common beliefs.

Curves have always been a major concern in my life. Although, it would be any woman's dream to have a curved shaped body and a small waist, I believe that in my case, curves make my body look disproportional. Whenever I stand in front of a mirror I can see how big my hips look in comparison to the lower part of my legs as well as my upper body. I feel as if they do not belong there. I have always been judged on the way my curves look like since they make my hips stand out. The person who judges me the most is my mother. Whenever I am home just changing to go to school, early in the morning, all I hear is "You look like you've gained weight!" or "Oh god, how much did you eat yesterday!?" The truth is that this problem became such a big part of my life that right now, I barely eat anymore. My curves somehow show in everything I do each day – I go to a washroom at school and then there it is the mirror in front of me showing me my curvy body. I pass by a store and there I can see my huge hips reflecting in the window. I go to class and I can feel how the top edge of my jeans is pressing on them. Even in the morning, when I put my shoes on my mom rarely forgets to give me the comment that I should hide my curves under "larger t-shirts and jeans". When we go shopping she always grabs jeans that are at least two sizes larger than my actual size. Her reasoning behind this is that I should not be showing too much of the curves that my body has due to the discrepancy between the size of my curves with that of my hips.

Furthermore, along with my parents, my peers also judge the way my body looks, though they are somewhat less judgmental than my mother. Some of my friends see the so called "disproportion" in my body particularly because they have smaller hips that blend in with their own bodies and as a result have a different body type than mine. Some of my friends' criticisms