my criticism on beauty standards.

Since ancient times, beauty standards and the ideal body image have been ever-present in society. Corsets and waist trainers, strict workout plans, the list goes. Different inventions have come and gone as we all try to conform to the perfect body. The idea that being skinny equals being happy has been around since Ancient Greek times. However, it is 2021 and while we hope this idea has been outdated, the truth is, it's even more present with the introduction of the internet. From unattainable beauty standards grows a new threat. Diet culture looms over our generation. We have all grown up around media, people, and society telling us to have a distant and restricted relationship with humanity's main source of nutrients, food. But the question still remains. Just how harmful is diet culture? 

There are many different diets out there, a growing sector of the internet, each set with a different goal. Diets are set on cutting out a particular food group such as the Atkins diet, dedicated to cutting out carbohydrates and focus on proteins, fruits, and vegetables. Or the Fruitarian Diet, which focuses solely on consuming fruits. However, we must focus more on much more intense diets to truly understand the risks behind more harmful diets such as Intermittent Fasting. This inspires fasting breaks for hours and eating small meals in between. This is harmful especially towards younger girls without proper knowledge of the impact extreme dieting can have. Physical wellness is heavily affected by diet culture as is mental health.

The main issue against diets is that they don’t work unless done right. Diets done wrong will not work long term and can have dire effects. Admittedly, diets done right and long term could have some health benefits, however, left unchecked and without being properly informed, people could be harmed in the unknown. For example, the physical side effects surrounding intermittent fasting would impact everyday life. During those hours of straying away from food, it could lead to headaches, dizziness and nausea from hunger. Dehydration is also common while fasting, as mealtimes are usually when most of daily water intake happens. There is also the risk of having problems sleeping. The mental hurdles presented during fasting can be. Mood swings and mental health depletion can occur during fasting. As this diet continues, bad relationships with food can begin to form. Then there's the ever-present threat of this 'diet' turning into an eating disorder. Binge eating to satisfy hunger is a valid side-effect. On the other side of this spectrum, restricting yourself of more and more foods after beginning to see results. Overall, it is clear just how dangerous these diets can be to your physical and mental well-being.

Diet culture's target audience is another issue. Diet culture primarily target teenage girls and feed on their insecurities. From experience, when you’re a teenage girl, everything seems to be wrong. Body image isn't an exception. As well as the constant causal sexism teenage girls experience. Navigating the balance of social life and school work and overbearing fear that the literal earth is burning. The media is constantly recommending meal plans, shape-wear, and new workout plans to get the perfect body. Teenage girls are one of the most vulnerable groups in society. During puberty, the happiness hormones in your brain are at an all-time low. Hormones like dopamine, serotonin and endorphins are lowered. Teens experience negative mood swings from a lack of these hormones during puberty. And to make matters worst, companies profit off these insecurities. Diet culture adverts are commonly found on social media, often used by teenage girls. Ads promoting apps to record fasting, workout plans, and waist trainers. Often paired with fake transformations and paired with phrases subtly dehumanising plus-size people, to paint the picture as if there is something wrong with them. Dieting ads and their contributions to diet culture are extremely damaging towards teenage girls.

Finally, the root of all of diet culture, society's fixation on the perfect body image. The belief that skinny is the only norm and everything else is unnatural and must be fixed at once. Hearing this from family, social media, influencers can sway opinions on such a tricky topic. The ideal body for women has changed over the years, frequently seen as a trend. Seen as this is the only route to happiness and a life worth living. The human race are shallow beings. Judgement comes as second nature, as it always has. However, we have progressed past the need to judge to stay alive and evolved it into society. This is what has turned us against each other. Body neutrality is a new concept in the fight against societal pressure to conform. The idea that your body is only a vessel to let you experience the joys of life. The right to experience life no matter what your weight is. This unattainable body standard society has created, promotes diet culture and alienates individuals.   

Diet culture has harmed so much of our generation. The internet has introduced a new age of comparison and guilt. The harms from diet culture include, but isn't limited to, the damage from side effects from the "newest diet craze." The blatant targeting of teen girls and profiting off their insecurities. And a sick fixation of the perfect body by society. If there is ever going to be a stop to diet culture's reign, we must dismantle the effortless judgement and begin to see the neutrality and beauty in everything. There is so much wonderful diversity in the world. Diet culture harms the reason we were each born to stand out.  

hope you enjoyed my rant haha! this is an opinion piece and probably my favourite writing ever. love youuuu ✨🍄💜