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Why we need to change our language when it comes to dieting and body image Credits: Social Media
By Jasmine Rowland

Why we need to change our language when it comes to dieting and body image

By Jasmine Rowland

While the way we understand body image is changing, our language is not. If were to look at one of the positive aspects of social media, its people are talking more openly about body image.

Influencers with large followings are beginning to open up the conversation about embracing your body, no matter what size or shape you are. Although were in the early stages, were starting to deconstruct the concept of the perfect body.

Weve come a long way from a time when adverts asking whether our summer body is ready were deemed ok for London underground.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B5dWyD1F4iu/

Although changes in social media posts show were moving forwards, theres also proof we have a long way to go. I still see captions stating naughty food or treat food. The intention may be harmless but it creates a sense of shame when indulging in those types of food.

Other examples Ive seen include people enjoying food on holiday with diet needed after this or need a return to the gym. We associate satisfying ourselves with food as a backwards action when it signifies a balanced and normal lifestyle.

Treats

Captions like these juxtapose with the idea we should enjoy nice food and drink. Instead, they suggest we should only eat what we enjoy in moderation or as a treat. Worse are the posts that highlight how many calories we need to burn off to indulge in food. The answer is none. We should be able to fulfil ourselves without an Instagram post suggesting 100 star jumps before a Kit Kat.

Hating our bodies is something we learn but should be something society strives to unlearn. Product labels also contribute to the way we perceive dieting culture.

Celebrities advertise guilt-free spreads and slimming juice as part of their weight-loss journeys. They only give false hope these products alone will help a person drop an unhealthy amount of weight, quickly.

Unsafe body image concept

They also grab the attention of young adults and teenagers, which is an unsafe concept when it comes to creating an image or goal of what a person feels they should look like.

What a post like that hides from its audience is a celebritys specialist diet or glam team has worked on it. Another example is the flat tummy tea. This not only fuses what we consume with what we should look like but suggests we should supress our cravings to feel good about ourselves.

Essentially, the product is asking us to ignore our bodies when we should be doing the opposite. A craving shouldnt be seen as a bad thing. It is a message from our bodies, one we should be able to listen to without shame.

Adele

Adele has been at the centre of the media storm, with the singers weight-loss the topic of many headlines. Older pictures of Adele have been juxtaposed with images of how she looks now, accompanied by captions such as she did that.

Its clear Adele has undergone a transformation but labelling it as her achievement has come to overshadow her 15 Grammy awards. With Adeles transformation labelled a glow up, its clear we havent changed our language at all. It suggests the way Adele looked previously was wrong.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_1VGc5AsoZ/

By focusing on Adeles body, the current generation are being taught a persons worth is measured by their appearance, not their talent. Not only could talking about Adeles weight loss affect her own thoughts, it may also make people think about their own weight. By focusing on the new Adele, headlines suggest only some bodies are worthy of respect.

Language leads us to believe theres a perfect body. However, the reality of the concept is it was created to sell fake products and false truths.

Society and language conducts us to believe we should love a body, where in fact we should love our own. Where knowledge and understanding of different body types is being updated, our language is not. To create change and openness, we should choose our words carefully.