Last week I was reading through some post that my friends had posted on Twitter when I came across one that broke my heart. It said something to the effect of “Victoria Secrets Fashion show, well there goes my self esteem” Here is the thing. this is a student who is an athlete, a great student, and stunningly beautiful. She has no reason to lack in self esteem. All this made me question the negative effect things like the Victoria Secrets Fashions show and our media consumption as a whole are having on our kids self esteem and for that matter on our self esteem as adults. Who are we comparing ourselves too? Where does our self worth come from?
As a side note, none of us need to be watching the Victoria Secret Fashion Show. It isn’t going to do guys any good to watch it, trust me as a man, nothing good comes from it. And for the women out there, I assume that watching a lingerie fashion show can only damage your self-esteem and body image. Not to mention you can’t tell me the show wasn’t gear toward teenagers, Justin Bieber was the musical act. Victoria’s Secret gearing their fashion show toward teenagers, that doesn’t sit well with me.
Back to the topic at hand, body image is a huge problem in today’s culture. Here are few stats to back it up.
http://heartofleadership.com/statistics-on-body-image-self-esteem-parental-influence/
Again these stats break my heart. We need to help our kids realize they don’t need to look like a model or an NFL linebacker to be healthy. The people we see online, on TV, the movies and magazines are not who we need to aspire to be. We are made in God’s image and our kids need to be constantly reminded of that. We need to teach them the balance of being healthy and treating your body like a temple (Something I need to work on) and hating ourselves over not being perfect. Talk with your kids on a regular basis, help them discern what they see from the media isn’t a healthy reality. Remind them that you love them and that God loves them and that is what they should base their self worth on not what our culture like to tell them is perfection. Help guard their heart from the untruths that are portrayed in the media.
As always I would love that have a discussion about this, please feel free to comment right here on the blog by clicking on the comment bubble just above this post.
Standale Reformed Parents 
Welcome to raising young women! Its a constant battle to try and get them to appreciate what they have instead of always wishing they had or looked like someone else. I am just as guilty of it as they are. You are right, constant reminders of how beautiful they are is essential. Of course, coming from mom doesn’t mean much according to them. That makes me think that I need to compliment other people more. It means more coming from a non-family member. I have been trying to make a point of always complimenting and or recognizing beauty in others.
Vonda you are right somehow a compliment coming from mom does mean as much, which is unfortunate. Any other advice you have for raising teenage daughters, other than locking them in the basement until they are 25, because that is what I would do if I had daughters.
I would be the last one to give advice! I am just thankful that my children are raised by a community rather than just Marc and I. Having a church family to influence and guide your children is so essential and comforting. It is extremely difficult to raise teenagers, much more than Marc and I ever anticipated. But so worth it!
This reminds me of people like Natalie maczinski… She sees the beautiful in everyone and tells them so…always has. Not only kids…adults too. It’s a rare and powerful gift she and others have of using her heart through her words and hugs. If we all just knew and embraced our unique Giftedness…and then lived ut out….our world would (will?) have no choice but to get and be better.