Your Body is Not Wrong, Society is...

This subject is something I feel so strongly about. Being in an industry that focuses so prominently on looks, I see so many beautiful people struggling with their body image and it really upsets me, because in more cases than one it usually takes them down an unhealthy path. I’ve seen people very close to me who have struggled with eating disorders and it’s not easy, it’s dark and it affects them in so many ways.  If they're lucky enough to overcome the battle it usually follows them, it’s a constant struggle to tell your mind something different, to what it’s trying to tell and you and your mind seem to be locked in a war zone whenever you look in the mirror.

Which brings me to my point. It doesn’t take a genius to see that women, in general, are beginning to feel more pressure than ever to be skinny. We look to the runway, who do we see? We turn to social media and what do we then see? In my opinion, the struggle with body image is getting worse. Let’s use my girl Gigi Hadid as an example. Hadid was recently quoted saying that modelling agencies in New York turned her down and told her to lose weight. Let’s not forget that time last year where she was being cyber bullied by people telling her she was fat, which she definitely was not! How are viewers, not to mention young women supposed to respond to that?

I went to a casting the other week, and I (a size 6-8) felt like I wasn't skinny enough to be in that room. I felt awkward and out of place. Was I a falling victim to negative body image? Maybe? But our bodies should be nobody else’s business but our own. However, it is discussed on a daily basis, for instance...

I go out for dinner and sometimes people will say to me “Oh wait you can’t eat that can you?” - Uhm, hold up! I will eat whatever I want to eat. I work my butt off at the gym 6-7 days a week, I’ve earned that burger, I will enjoy it and yes I WILL have dessert after, too. I don’t think I’ve ever met a person who hasn’t asked me what I do at the gym and what I eat in a day. Like really? Why not ask me something about my interests or my work? On the scale of things, who cares what I eat or how many hours I put in at the gym.

Let's make this clear: Eating Disorders are a disease, NOT a fashion statement.

I refuse to ever be one of those girls who drop weight to get booked for a job, who drop weight because they feel like they need to be thinner to become more socially acceptable or to become the apple of some undeserving man's eye (if that’s what he wants you to do). You need to be you, genuinely you and love yourself. Otherwise, you never will, and that's at any weight, be healthy and happy.