Male or female, people who have a negative self-image tend to subconsciously project their paranoias and insecurities on other people. For example, I don’t have a wash-board, flat stomach. I have a little bit of a pooch, but I’m perfectly fine with it. I don’t think it looks bad and I don’t intend on trying to fix it until I’m uncomfortable with it. While with a friend one day, my stomach started to cramp after a meal. I began to try to soothe my pain by rubbing it in a circle. Apparently appalled by my little bump, my friend said “stop rubbing your stomach; you’re bringing attention to it.” I responded, “So? My stomach hurts.” After a long pause, she said “You need to do something about that.” I said “I don’t think so” and she gave a snarky look. This particular friend constantly referred to themselves as fat and was especially concerned with their stomach area. After giving a look, the friend proceeded to lecture me about my pooch and it seemed like the more nonchalant I was, the more passionate in her argument she became. It was almost as if she wouldn’t back down unless I said I was going to work on my stomach or seemed discontent with it. Another friend of mine has similar experiences on a regular basis with her body-conscious mother, who points out every imperfection from pimples to cellulite. The characteristics she does compliment are those her mother no longer has, such as perky breasts or a full head of hair. One of my more vain relatives constantly criticizes the weight of others under the guise of “it’s unhealthy,” even though all of his comments are related to attractiveness.
Why can’t people keep their self-consciousness body issues to themselves? They know how awful it feels to look in the mirror and despise what they see, so why on earth would they want someone else to feel like that? Why try to force someone into paranoia? Is it simply the “misery loves company” principle? As for people like my relative who like to measure the attractiveness and critique the weight of others, what business of it is yours? Why care? How does it affect your life? I love how when it comes to external social issues that don’t directly affect us, we take on a dismissive “it’s not my problem” attitude, but it’s a national crisis when it comes to vanity. Someone must tell that girl she’s fat, if anyone cares about her at all. Many people would probably be more content with who they are if it wasn’t for the judgments of others.
Why can’t people keep their self-consciousness body issues to themselves? They know how awful it feels to look in the mirror and despise what they see, so why on earth would they want someone else to feel like that? Why try to force someone into paranoia? Is it simply the “misery loves company” principle? As for people like my relative who like to measure the attractiveness and critique the weight of others, what business of it is yours? Why care? How does it affect your life? I love how when it comes to external social issues that don’t directly affect us, we take on a dismissive “it’s not my problem” attitude, but it’s a national crisis when it comes to vanity. Someone must tell that girl she’s fat, if anyone cares about her at all. Many people would probably be more content with who they are if it wasn’t for the judgments of others.
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