Body Image and Respect

Body image is a tricky topic. Trying to express your opinion is like playing Russian Roulette with a gun 100% filled with bullets: no matter what you say, people are going to shoot you for it (obviously with their words, not their actual guns because this isn't America). Regardless of where you stand on the matter of body image, you will be shot down, accused and harassed for your opinions. Which is why most people say nothing at all.

Bindi Irwin, on the other hand, spoke out about this matter in a recent interview. This is what she had this to say:

"I'm a big advocate for young girls dressing their age."

"I mean, for me, I look around at a lot of young girls that are my age and they're always trying to dress older. Whether it's wearing revealing clothes or hardly wearing any clothes at all, I feel really bad for them. ..."

"I almost wish I could tell young girls, 'look, in 10 years when you look back at yourself, you'll cringe honey, honestly' ..."

"A lot of times I want to grab these girls and say 'look ... in 10 years you'll regret this. Just dress who you are. Don't try so hard. A pair of jeans and a T-shirt is just as gorgeous and even makes you look classier."

While I do admire her courage, I don't admire her maturity, because I don't think this shows it. Don't get me wrong, I respect her and her right to this opinion, and I definitely respect her speaking out about it. What I don't approve of is the way that Bindi has insinuated that her fashion sense and the way she dresses is better, or right, and that if you don't have the same clothing instincts that she has, you're wrong. Whether she actually believes this or not is irrelevant, because as a celebrity, what you say will always be taken out of the context of your own thoughts. And in this instance, the way that Bindi has phrased her statements says exactly that.

The body image dilemma isn't a social media virgin, and there isn't really anything new to be added to the pile of discarded arguments. But recently, the stance on body image has been to embrace your body regardless of your size, and to be comfortable in your own skin. You're beautiful no matter your size.

But you can't show the world that beauty. You must cover it up, because instead of teaching people to respect others no matter what they wear, we're teaching them that if they're wearing 'provocative' clothing, they deserve to be looked down upon.

You're beautiful no matter your size. But only if you disregard your own sense of comfort in your body and what you're wearing so that others may feel more comfortable around you. 


Now, I'm not suggesting that young girls should strive to dress 'older than their age'. What I am suggesting is that they have the right to choose to dress however they want. Just because one person feels comfortable in jeans and a T-shirt doesn't mean that everyone else is uncomfortable in low-cut shirts and mini skirts. The feeling of comfort isn't universal, and no one has the right to dictate what others are comfortable with. If someone else's clothing makes you uncomfortable, that's okay. You're allowed to feel like that. But you're not allowed to tell them that they're wrong and you're right because you disagree.

Another blog post that saw loads of media attention was written by a teenage girl on her sister's blog just over a month ago. The girl was kicked out of her prom due to the impure thoughts her dress allowed the men and boys to have. The link to the original post can be found at the end of the post, and I'd definitely recommend reading it; she speaks out against slut-shaming and treating men like they're monsters with no self-control.

My point is, it shouldn't matter what a girl (or boy, for that matter), is wearing. What should matter is that you have the ability to respect that person regardless of their clothing choices, and that whether they're showing no skin or are completely naked, it shouldn't make you think any differently of them. As a society and culture, we should be educating our children in respect, not oppression, and that goes for every situation. What someone is wearing shouldn't have an effect on anyone but the individual.

Now you can argue that people who don't dress modestly aren't showing self-respect, and if you think that, good for you. I personally, however, feel that you should be able to flaunt the fact that your comfortable in your body by wearing whatever the hell you want, whether that means you stick to jeans and T-shirts like Bindi suggests, or you take a page out of Rhianna's book and rock a completely see-through dress and g-string. Because as a decent human being, I respect your freedom to wear what you like, and I have enough self-control to not let your fashion sense impact my opinion of you.

Proclaiming that someone is a slut and reasoning that their clothing provoked you to say such a thing reflects poorly on yourself. Such statements speak more to your lack of self-control than to said girl's sexual status, which by the way, is none of anyone else's business in the first place (which is a topic for a whole new post).

To wrap this up, I want to reiterate that I don't think Bindi Irwin is a bad person for expressing an opinion she has a right to have, nor do I claim that her opinion is any less valuable than my own, and that goes for anyone who is reading reading. At the same time, I expect the same level of tolerance from everyone else for my opinion, which can be summed up like this:

Respect is a right, not a privilege for people who follow the same moral code as yourself. 

In Bindi's own words, "just dress who you are."

You can read the original interview with Bindi Irwin here.  

You can read the original blog post here. 

You can follow me on Twitter here.