You Are Beautiful

“You’re SHORT, Mrs. Takahara!” an almost-too-honest second grader told her teacher.

She replied, “Yes. Isn’t it great that people come in all shapes and sizes?”

The girl slowly smiled, “Yeah . . . It is.”

Somewhere between second grade and high school, we stop believing that the diversity of body shapes and sizes is great.

Darryl Roberts, director of “America the Beautiful” asked two hundred girls and women if they were beautiful. Two said yes. One percent of two hundred felt beautiful. Why?

Media and ads are partially responsible. Dove’s minute long film “Evolution” shows that the beauty images we see in ads are not real. Ads require a team of makeup artists, professional photographers, and graphic artists skilled in digital image manipulation to create this unreal beauty. We see these images every day in supermarkets, on TV and online. In 2004 The Journal of Social & Clinical Psychology published a study where researchers exposed college women to fifteen ads from women’s magazines. The results? These women felt worse and had more body dissatisfaction after viewing the ads.

Fat Talk (as I wrote about here) also increases body dissatisfaction.

While it’s important to understand the causes of poor body image, it is equally important to learn what we can do to make our bodies feel good and be healthy. The Healthy Eating And Living Interns are sharing helpful tips as part of National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, February 23rd – 27th. Check them out on their Facebook event page for ways to be involved.

One thing you can start with today is recognizing in yourself your own beauty. Write down one quality, unrelated to physical appearance, that makes you beautiful. Then post it here in the comments below. Collectively, let’s take a stand, recognize that we all are beautiful and inspire each other with our beauty.

In that spirit, I am beautiful because my laugh makes others laugh and feel good.

We all are beautiful.

You are beautiful. Yeah . . . you are.

Michael Takahara is a health educator at Student Health. Post comments, suggestions, questions here and or email Michael.takahara@sa.ucsb.edu.

11 Responses to “You Are Beautiful”

1. Lorie Morris says:

   February 24, 2009 at 11:26 am

   Hi Maka,

   Thank you for this wonderful article and especially to the link on “evolution”. I think this should be mandatory viewing for all students. What an eye opener!!

   Lorie
2. Don Lubach says:

   February 24, 2009 at 12:47 pm

   GREAT post, Maka. As a father of daughters, I think about body image a lot. A serious topic. Size is no big deal. Reasonable diet, exercise, and a trip to the doc every now and then is all we need. If we just, collectively, appreciate our various sizes — we can run the evil diet industry into the rocks.
3. Maka says:

   February 24, 2009 at 1:59 pm

   Thanks Lorie and Don,

   I think our culture sometimes does not appreciate when we acknowledge our strengths or beauty. Some misunderstand it as bragging or immodesty.

   But hope people can realize that true beauty should not be judged like that.

   In that spirit, let me say that one of the many things that I find beautiful about Lorie and Don:

   Lorie – your love for animals is beautiful.

   Don – your commitment to biking to work everyday is beautiful.

   Peace
4. Justine says:

   February 24, 2009 at 4:47 pm

   Hi Maka,

   This is very sweet . I think I am beautiful because of my perseverance and compassion. I think YOU are beautiful because of your commitment to your family, if I have to list just one thing
5. Nicole says:

   February 24, 2009 at 6:11 pm

   Maka, you’re awesome!! I think I am beautiful because of my ability to love and care for others!

   Maka you are beautiful because of your warmth and generosity!!!!
6. Marisol Barragan says:

   February 27, 2009 at 11:48 am

   I am BEAUTIFUL because I am always willing to help others. Thanks Maka for this amazing article and you are beautiful because you’re always so positive!! I hope everyone who reads this has trouble picking one reason why they are beautiful!

   -Joanna you are BEAUTIFUL because you are committed to helping students stuggling with body image and eating disorders. Thanks!
   -Lorie you are BEAUTIFUL because you are a great listener! Thanks!
   -Tamzen you are BEAUTIFUL because you always have a warm smile which brightens people’s day!
   -HEAL Interns you are all BEAUTIFUL because you devote your time to helping other learn to love themselves and be healthy!
7. Cam Gray says:

   February 27, 2009 at 1:01 pm

   Simply put, an inspiring post Maka. Props for the emphasis on a truly healthy body image. I really feel that all of us possess beauty in a plethora of ways that are often overlooked.

   I have to say that my passion for life is beautiful.

   All you people out there are beautiful, simply because you can feel and think and move in the unique ways you do.

   Spread the love.
8. Lena Rakijian says:

   February 27, 2009 at 1:08 pm

   MAKA YOU ROCK!

   I’m beautiful because I care about my friendships and I love making my friends smile and laugh.

   LOVE YOUR BODY!!! YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL
9. Maka says:

   February 27, 2009 at 3:07 pm

   I got an email that said, “I missed the screening of America the Beautiful on February 22nd at the IV Theater, but I was wondering if there would be another possible way to see the film. Will a copy of the DVD be available soon on campus? I don’t feel happy about missing the screening, but I do want see the movie sometime in the future.”

   The DVD of America the Beautiful will be released in fall 2009. The director is on a 70 college tour right now. Once that’s done, Darryl will spend the time to do the DVD mastering (with lots of extras).

   If you want, you can sign up to be notified when the DVD will be released. You just have to email: dvd@americathebeautifuldoc.com and write in the subject line: Sign me up for updates on your DVD release.

   You should also know if you sign up, Darryl Roberts will email you periodically to share some of his stories road tripping this movie across our country, college to college. I don’t know how often he does this. I signed up on Saturday and I’ve received an email from him yesterday. FYI.

   I loved the film. It took $800,000 to make. Darryl used his own money made as music video director to finance most of it. Then two other men came on as producers to raise the rest. I like that three men are responsible for the creation of this film.

   I hope you get a chance to see it.

   Peace
10. Adrienne says:

    February 27, 2009 at 8:57 pm

    Maka, great article! I love how you incorporated the elements of your own life and the movie into the bigger picture.
    You are beautiful because you write such thought-provoking articles that everyone NEEDS to see . Please keep this up. I’m supporting what you do 100%!!
11. Michelle says:

    March 23, 2009 at 3:44 pm

    That is great Michael! I think I am beautiful b/c I give of myself..mostly my time (!) to Girl scouts, my family, my job, my friends. But I get SO MUCH back in return that it is all worth it!!