In the news a lot lately, are thoughts on how magazines are to blame for young woman dieting to the point of death. Not because they are not beautiful, but because they see these thin woman on the covers and think that is the image they need to be. What is funny about image though, is depending on the time period in history, you would see a wide variety of images of beauty. In the 1800's woman with large hips were considered the best wife's, while thin woman would have been considered at deaths door.
So as I thought about image tonight, as mentioned in my other post. I thought about something, does the society teach that obese people are not perfect? Well at first you might say, "no, never heard of it." Yet, did you see it?
Picture yourself back then, when you were a Witness. You were looking through one of the many magazines and books they published and come to a picture of the paradise earth. Look at the people, did any of them have a weight problem? Did any of them have large hips, or a chunkier appearance? No, they were all the same "teen magazine" image of the magazines we see today. Why is this wrong?
Well keep in mind that the society was saying these images were of "perfection." Yet doctors say that weight is not always a indicator of someone's health. In fact, in many cases a little extra weight is healthy. Being to thin can harm your organs, cause birthing problems for mothers, and even affect the development of your body. Contrary to believe, the thin image shown in these pictures as perfect, is not really the perfect body. How can these images affect people though?
Well lets say you are a young woman in a congregation with a weight problem. You look at these magazines each day and see these beautiful people. You see that the "popular" boys and girls in the congregation look like this, while you do not. You then see the pictures from the society more, and soon you start to feel that in the new system your body would need more work then others, because lets face it. According to the societies depiction, you are further from perfection then most. So with that in mind, how do you think that would make someone feel?
Personally, I could see issues with self esteem. I could see issues with depression and even the development of the same eating disorders that the news reports in teens today that want to be as thin as the latest super model. At the same time, as much as we would want to think that only Witnesses make this mistake in showing a godly perfect world as being thin people. I must also mention, that I have never seen a obese angel in any other churches either.
So I wonder something as I write this, did anyone else ever notice this one little fact about the perfect world? If so, how did it make you feel? If you didn't, does it make you wonder more now how it affected your own image of a perfect body?
Just wondering
Dragon