Monsters

They mould our everyday life. They mould the way we see things, the way we think and every tiny aspect of us. Words such as fat, ugly and thin are thrown at us from every angle. Having an issue with our body is something that we will all probably go through in our lifetime. We would probably go through this in our adolescence, when we begin to learn and develop more we to start feeling self conscious.

However, in the United Kingdom, girls aged 5 are starting to worry about their appearance. Mere, helpless children, who are meant to epitomise innocence and radiance, are beating themselves up for the way that they look. When I was five, body image was the last thing on my mind.

How do I know this? How do I know the shocking fact that 30million people in the United Kingdom are suffering from negative body image issues? How do I know that little children are routinely worrying about their weight and appearance?

A monster told me of the news. That monster is telling us to fix it and to do something, as it walks around in its 8 inch killer red heels and strapless black dress, refreshing its mascara. The same monster is chewing up people’s insecurities, then, regurgitating them out again saying, how terrible and appalling it is. That monster is strutting around the globe in its many forms.

By drawing references to professors, studies and parliamentary reports, this hideous thing has pointed to the scars and the wounds in the United Kingdom. It has dragged out what it has caused, by playing the innocent and useful informative messenger. This powerful, towering figure is inflicting the wounds that it has caused, onto its image, as it cowers in the shadows.

This monster’s image is the more popular kind. We crave, fight and work for it, the daily diet and exercise plans in magazines.

I know we have all seen our fair share of magazine articles that promote well being and goodness. However, amidst all the headlines and articles about how “unhealthy it is to be too skinny” and how we should “love our own body”, there, on the next page, in big bright bold letters, are the words “Celebrity Gains 10 Kilos and Sinks into a Burning Fiery Pit of Fat Hell”. That’s often followed 5 odd pages of “fat burning secrets to make your life complete”.

By referring to recent events and famous icons, such as the Olympic Games and the Spice Girls, the media, in form of blogs and magazines has manipulated us.

They tie us in by using the prospect of getting healthier and thinner like the icons. By doing so, they inevitably bring our self esteem down to a whole new level. They need to realise that some of us do not have constant and easy access to coconut water and star trainers, such as Tracy Anderson.

Body image and self esteem issues can lead to eating disorders, substance abuse, as well as self-harming.  The issue of self harming is something that most people are relatively uncomfortable with. However, it happens. There’s no point in denying the simple fact that people do self-harm. One of the reasons why they do, is because of their view of their body. Negative body image is something that can and will cause mental and physical disorders.

With sad and provocative music and images, the reporters have successfully thrown self-harming in a bad light. But, they kept saying how people should stop self-harming, instead of telling everyone else to stop giving them a reason to self-harm. Instead of telling the media to stop, they’re telling the victims to stop.

This is the monster’s shadow. It too, is pushing the blame towards the monster’s image, mimicking the monster.

When I was younger, I use to think that there were monsters under my bed. I have stopped looking for them, because I know that they are not there. The monster that I was so scared of wasn’t under my bed, at all. This whole time, it was the media that was the real monster.

Their words, images and languages manipulate men, women and children to worry constantly over their bodies. The media is the powerful and monstrous thing.