Anna Sirota, who forces women to risk their lives for the sake of beauty 11/14/2024, 11:31

Recently, a young St. Louis mother of two. A St. Petersburg woman died after liposuction, which means removing excess fat from her abdomen. The husband told reporters that after giving birth twice by cesarean section, his wife’s belly began to protrude too much and she decided to resort to plastic surgery. Do you know what people are discussing most in the comments to this tragic news? “I’d rather spend the money on a gym membership,” some wrote. “I can take care of myself and eat less,” others advised. Almost no one expressed sympathy. He did not blame himself for the woman’s death, but the same notorious beauty standards and the crazy pressure of society that forced him to undergo this surgery. Commenters sincerely believed that excess belly fat was a horror and ugliness that you should never live with. So much so that you have to take risks to be able to look at yourself in the mirror without tears (and everyone knows that every surgery is risky). So no one doubted the need to eliminate an ugly belly, no one said that you can be beautiful and happy with such a belly.

Do you remember when there was such a thing – body positivity? His supporters argued that anyone with fat, wrinkled, bow-legged legs could be allowed—not to worry about it. Major brands have created entire advertising campaigns on this topic for several years in a row. Representatives of high fashion were accused of imposing standards of thinness that were dangerous to health, and rather fat “body positive” ladies walked on the catwalks. Fat women began to call themselves “plus-size models” and create pages on social networks. Lovers of curvaceous figures rejoiced, the rest were frightened but endured. Happiness seemed close, society was about to shake off the cloud of prejudice, but it didn’t happen that way.

The million-dollar beauty industry hasn’t given up. Gradually, erotic chubby people were pushed away, to the catwalks, to advertising – which means that slim, tall and young people are returning to fashion. Hard times have come again for ordinary women. They were asked to work on themselves again, give up fast carbohydrates, breathe in the gym, wear shapewear, not eat after six, drink two liters of water every day, including a glass of hot water on an empty stomach, go for a massage regularly. , cryolipolysis, LPG, smas – lifting, biorevitalization, injecting Botox, and if all this does not work, seek the help of a surgeon to achieve unattainable perfection.

Men who are not under such intense pressure from society cannot understand how someone can hate their own body so much and decide to have surgery for aesthetic reasons rather than medical reasons. What can I say, it is usually men who force their wives and girlfriends to make such radical decisions. They are the ones who lovingly slap you on the ass or belly and say “you raised them” or “you ate them”. With a sigh, they remember what your breasts were like before birth, or they directly advise you to lose weight because you are fat and unattractive. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s said as a “joke” or not – it’s traumatic and how. As a result, women’s lives turn into an endless struggle. We struggle with excess weight, stretch marks, acne and hair loss, followed by wrinkles and sagging skin, a protruding belly or “ears” on the butt.

We are satisfied with ourselves until the age of ten, perhaps after the age of 70 (but this is not certain). The rest of the time, that is, most of our lives, we cannot enjoy what God has given us, because, firstly, we constantly compare ourselves to others (our friends, bloggers, artists, models, etc.) and secondly, we compare ourselves to others. People are constantly evaluating us, starting from our own parents to acquaintances we met by chance after a long time. For example, everyone sees it as their duty to tell you how you got better. And he does this with a sympathetic and understanding face. It’s as if you don’t see yourself gaining weight, getting older, graying, pale – you can choose what suits you best.

In our culture of hysterical perfection, excess weight, and especially belly fat, is almost a crime. By the standards of the endless world of fashion in which we live, the only thing worse than fat is old age in the form of a flabby oval face and wrinkles. And in such a terrible situation, anyone who has the courage to go out and enjoy life should be urgently branded as weak-willed gluttons and grandmothers, advised to eat less and sent to the gym or plastic surgeons.

I have questions here. Why can’t we leave each other alone? Let’s stop judging and giving advice, shall we? Stop holding people of different ages, genetics, and basic metabolism levels to uniform beauty standards — who approved them, anyway? Look around – most people are imperfect, think, is our love for our loved ones and friends measured by the size of their waist? And most importantly, how can you stop feeling sad when you look at yourself in the mirror? How can you make sure that all this nonsense does not affect your mood and attitude towards life? To be honest, I don’t have an answer to this question.

The author expresses his personal opinion, which may not coincide with the position of the editors.