Digital Media and Body Image

It's too easy for us or our kids to go on the internet or flip on the TV and see content that makes us envious of what other people have. But worse than things like money, cars, guns, neat toys or houses, is body build. Unlike all those other material things, an "ideal" body is something that we can have, if we try. And it's so easy to do! This is not wrong of course, to want something like that. The problem lies in the images we so often see and consider "normal" are often the outliers. We desire that which appears normal, but is actually anything but. Because of this, we end up striving to achieve something we can't normally get (or what we can get only by hurting ourselves). This last point, hurting ourselves, is the biggest issue. Too often young teenage girls will starve themselves or go on insane diets just to get a little bit closer to a certain goal they think is ideal, but is actually disgusting. I for instance dislike girls who have no meat on them. I don't want to date a toothpick. Is slim nice? Of course! But it must be tempered with easy living, and a healthy dose of self-esteem.