Letter Six

Dear Reader,

Your world is full of beautiful things, you are acutely aware of this. You spend your lives chasing the next beautiful thing, exhausting yourselves running on a spinning wheel of things which never satisfy. Perhaps more than anything you chase the idea of feminine beauty. You raise your daughters to believe they must meet certain expectations of beauty in order to be loved. You raise your boys to believe that having the prettiest wife is an accomplishment. 

I feel I should clarify that there is nothing wrong with having the desire to look nice and present yourself in a certain way. That is not the problem I am writing to you about. The problem comes when there is an outside pressure to achieve a certain standard of beauty. Your magazines are filled with the latest extreme diets and celebrity bodies on display, after hours of photoshop to make them flawless. You are consuming unhealthy standards on a daily basis, how can you expect yourselves to maintain healthy standards?

Your society has created a breeding ground for mental illness through these broken standards. You unintentionally promote depression, anxiety and eating disorders. Your lies weave their ways into young women, leading them to believe that until they meet your set standards they are unworthy and insufficient. I am compelled to ask who you are to put a definition on beauty? Who are you to determine a woman’s hair must look just like this, her body must look exactly this way regardless of whether or not that is healthy? You determine that their skin must be a certain way, their eyes a certain color and nothing different could possibly be beautiful in your eyes. 

Young women spend their lives chasing your approval, as their mothers, fathers, friends, and strangers they pass on the street. When they fail to get it they often break themselves trying. They starve themselves, neglect their basic human needs, they chase anything and anyone who makes them feel worthy. They exercise beyond what is healthy, risking their wellbeing to reach unattainable standards. 43% of people suffering from Anorexia have considered suicide, compared to 38% of Bulimic patients and 23% of those suffering from BED (Binge Eating Disorder) and OSFED (Other Specified Eating Disorder). 

Young men are suffering from this as well. They are given strict standards on what a man should look like. They are encouraged to have a certain percentage of body fat and have prominent muscles to be considered masucline. This leads to an increase in drug use for muscle gain. Young men work to prove their masculinity, yet you stare blindly past their suffering. Young men undergo pressure to fluctuate their weight in order to maintain positions on athletic teams, regardless of if this is in their best interest. 

An estimated 110 young athletes die of cardiac arrest annually in America, the risk for this greatly increases when a young person rejects a balanced diet or begins taking drugs. While this seems to be a relatively small number, should you not strive to make it even smaller? If you can lessen the risks by promoting healthy eating and expose the risks of drugs, why would you choose not to? 

You each play an important role in this issue. You must stop promoting unhealthy ideals and start promoting healthy eating. Stop blindly following the latest trends in dieting and exercise and find what is healthiest for your body and your kids. Parents and guardians, your children are looking to you to show them how to treat their bodies, when you have a negative connotation of your body they will likely view their body negatively as well. 

Promote positive body image in your families. Do not ignore signs of eating disorders or drug abuse with the mentality that this young person is simply improving their appearance. If you or someone you know shows signs of an eating disorder please reach out for help, there are resources that can help. If you or someone you know is struggling with drug abuse please seek help, rehabilitation is possible. 

Love one another, that is the true beauty of your world. 

Sincerely,

INJUSTICE