Why do girls feel insecure about their body size?

By Ifunanya Obidigbo

When it comes to body shape and size, the female gender cares more about how they look than their male counterpart. Some ladies also tend to lose confidence in their looks, they feel they are not worth attention because of how they look – this sum up to low self-esteem.

Females, especially adolescent girls, regard body size as one of the important elements of their identity. As a result of this, several measures are adopted by these ladies in attempt to change their body, such as, undergoing surgery to get the desired shape and size, without considering the side effect of such.

Men on the other hand, care less about how they look because, they have different body structure unlike the women who either add up or lose shape during some stages in their lives, like pregnancy.

Women worry about their appearance and physical attractiveness because looks are more consequential for them. It is important to note that this reaction towards looks, appearance and attractiveness is as a result of lack of self-confidence and low self-esteem.

However, the key reason why ladies are more concerned about their looks and appearance than guys is that their appearance is central to how they are being evaluated by the rest of the world.

Issues and concerns raised about being overweight is not likely to go away, and the issue is becoming a bigger problem as some girls tend to hate their body and since men have different taste in women, one cannot be sure about what structure to assume. Most men when asked prefers a slim and sexy lady to a fat lady.

When ladies who are meant to encourage their fellow women go ahead to body shame them, it creates insecurity around these fat ladies – the fact that you are a slim girl doesnt mean you should body shame another girl whose body structure differs from yours.

This event is often regarded as lookism or bodyism which means prejudice or discrimination on the grounds of a person’s appearance, but giving it an unpleasant name is not likely to make it disappear. We need to remind ourselves that our kind of species on planet earth transforms, and this evolutionary process enhances our attraction towards the opposite sex likewise the men, their facial hair, broad shoulders and bass voice makes them more sexually attractive to women.

Women are frightened about gaining weight because the society they live in, defines who they are by how they look. They are constantly reminded by various media especially the social media about products that removes fat, waist trainer and the value in weight loss, there are even mobile apps for weight loss.

Adverts on the television about plastic and cosmetic surgeries remains on the rise yearly, that young ladies feel insecure about bodies and their physical appearance. They grow up believing that if they change, it would boost their self-esteem, as they are faced daily with almost impossible images on television, in movies, or on the internet, of beauty queens and models. It has been estimated that young girls are exposed to 400 to 600 media images per day.

Regrettably, it damages women emotionally, thereby planting a feeling and behavior to change their bodies so as to fit into their choice or an unrealistic standard of beauty. Women should take note that their body size does not define who they are, rather they should love themselves and their body, and they should also let the world see how confident they are about themselves.

No matter your body size – thick, fat or slim, love yourself and be yourself.