This is part 2 of 6-part series on body insecurity where I share my history with body insecurity , signs of body insecurity, effects and reasons of body insecurity and tips to get over it and also motivational quotes to inspire you to love your body
- Part 4 : 10 Ways to Overcome Body Insecurity
Body insecurity is one of those problems that people of any age might have or get. From a teenager to an adult, people of every age suffer from it time to time. It’s one kinda problem that cannot be called a physical or mental problem particularly. It’s even not a personal problem. Even it’s more of a social problem where we all are kind of responsible for this. Body insecurity is mostly common among the women and it’s told that in average a women is likely to slander herself for more than 13 times a day. It’s definitely not an appreciating. However, have you ever wondered about the reasons of body insecurity?
Like why so many people in this world suffer from this damn thing….. Well, there are ample of reasons of it. Even mostly there used to be different reasons for different people. However there always used to be some common reasons of everything happening in this world. In today’s article, we’ve talked about 10 of the most common reasons of body insecurity.
So, if you’re interested, then continue reading to the end.
10 Most Common Reason of Body Insecurity
1. Being teased about appearance in childhood
School bullying is a normal thing. Many teenagers are bullied in their school. A static says almost every 1 in 4 children are bullied at school. Which sometimes makes them feel lonely, have suicidal thoughts, makes them traumatized and grows body insecurity among them automatically.
2. Having family members being addicted towards a particular body feature
Almost every family used to have at least one common thing related to appearance that they all follow. For most families, it’s white skin tone. But for other families, it can be small face or tall figure. Whatever it is… but when any of the family members doesn’t match with that body feature, it sometimes make them being less cared by the family members which grows body insecurity among them automatically.
3. Seeing other family members having body dissatisfaction
Body dissatisfaction is definitely an extremely negative thing. And it’s told that if you will keep listening or witnessing a negative thing over and over again, then one day or the other, it will be transferred to you. Same applies to body dissatisfaction.
Some people grow up watching any of their family members suffering from body dissatisfaction which also transfers to them as they grow up. So, it’s definitely one of the most common reasons of body insecurity.
4. Media and advertising images promoting particular appearance idea
I guess this is a point where I will have to talk nothing about it to make it understandable. Hourglass figure, slim body, pale skin, small face, flawless skin – we all are acquainted with these beauty standards. However, they would in their limit if it would just used as a part of looking beautiful.
But, it’s no longer seen in that way. Right now, it’s not a part anymore, it’s like the whole beauty thing. So, those who don’t have this are often seen as not beautiful enough. Even some people are teased for this. Even the worst fact is the media is promoting them so much that they come in front of our eyes almost everyday which makes the body insecurity worse for some people.
5. Being taught that appearance is everything
We may experience body insecurity in different stages of our life. But, what if for someone, it’s already made the root of their life?? Well, let me take away all of your confusions.
It might sound extremely unreal but some people are taught this in their earlier ages that without appearance nothing can be gotten. It’s not always taught by parents, sometimes it can be taught by any toxic relatives or someone who is closer to your heart too.
Like in many families, the parents think of their daughters as burden and wants them to get married as soon as possible instead of being financially independent so that the parents won’t have to bear the responsibility of that daughter. As a result, often she is taught that having a good appearance is crucial to get a good man. Even some toxic people teach their children that they must have a good appearance to make it in their career whereas there is no relation between the two. So, being taught that appearance is everything is one of those untold and big reasons of body insecurity.
6. The urge to follow popular trends
Some people are really fashionable . Not saying that being fashionable is a fault but being obsessed with popular trends is. There isn’t always a trend on those social media platforms only, it’s also seen in beauty standards. To give an example, in the ancient times, women with small lips would be considered as the most beautiful ones.
However it slowly started changing after 2006. This year is called the started of the ‘big lips’ trend. Even you can already see now on social media that how people are going mad over this. Even some people also had plastic surgery for this who ended up making it out of control, losing their beauty and making their face look extremely ridiculous and the worst sometimes. So having a strong and unstoppable urge of following the trends is definitely one of the biggest reasons of body insecurity.
7. Caring a lot about what other people think
It’s so difficult for most human to control their emotions. However sometimes you will have to block your mind and ears and pretend like you don’t care. Trust me, not everyone gets a supportive community and even people can be so mean sometimes. So, it not abnormal for a person to have people around them who talks bad about their appearance.
And those who care about them are the ones who become the future victims of body insecurity. Even it feels so abominable, you cannot stop someone talking shitty things. But, you can always stop yourself from caring a lot about what other people think .
8. Having a constant comparison with others
Every of us is different from the another. So whenever you will try to compare yourself to others, it will always lead to a disappointing part. So, if you compare yourself with others continually and then feel sad, then somewhere the main culprit is you.
However sometimes the disappointment doesn’t happen by the victim. In reality, the victim isn’t always the culprit. In many families, children are body shamed by their own family members. Many teenagers are scoffed by their parents because of not looking beautiful like the child of an another person. This situation might sound totally unreal and it’s definitely the ego of the parents only. But, the fact is it happens. Not many talk about this but many suffer from it. So, having a constant comparison with others is another big reasons of body insecurity.
9. Not having enough self love/self esteem
Some people just can never love themselves. Most people have negativity bias which makes them to think about the negative sides the most often. Even scientists have discovered that it takes around 3 good experiences for an average person to offset one negative experience. It easily gives an idea about how much we take those negative things seriously than the positives. It quite simply applies to body insecurity.
You see loving our body is one of the biggest parts of self love. So, those who keep looking and obsessing over negative things, whenever they find something wrong in their shape or maybe if it doesn’t match with the shape in their mind, they start judging themselves automatically. So, having self love is definitely one of the notable reasons of self love.
10. Witnessing someone else being teased because of their appearance
You know why children are afraid of ghosts ? Because in their earlier ages, they’re told those simple horror stories which seems believable to them and they start being afraid. This situation is quite same as this point says. You know in some societies, people are judged harshly because of the way they look. When someone finds an another person being bullied badly because of their appearance, it sometimes makes them traumatized. Which leads them to have a fixed mindset that appearance is crucial to survive.
After all, it could end all there if that person would protest. But guess what? Some people just cannot always speak up and most people think that it’s their own fault. So, whenever you’re talked bad because of your appearance, just like any other situations, you should speak up. Otherwise it might always be one of the biggest reasons of body insecurity for an another person.
My final thoughts : At the end, the one thing I just want to say is 'body insecurity is painful'. It's like a mental pain that hurts people almost in the same way when someone is depressed for something. People who suffer from body insecurity for a long time really knows the pain. So, whenever, you find someone feeling guilty about their body, please give them some mental comfort. As you've already seen that body insecurity isn't a problem that comes automatically and somewhere we all are responsible for this. It's necessary to remember that reasons of body insecurity in reality are numerous. So, people might have several different reason because of getting that insecurity. Even your reason might not be always the same like anyone else. On top of that, if you cannot help someone to get cure from the pain anyways, then please never be the reason of someone's pain. Never do anything that only for you an another person is going to start suffering from this pain again. Also always take care of your own mental health and stay happy.
That’s all for today’s article. Don’t forget to leave a comment about your thoughts regarding this post.
Question for you: Is there any other common reasons are being that cause body insecurity but we have forgotten to list them here? If yes, then what are they?
Let me know the answer in the comment below!
Finally, if you liked this article, then don’t forget to share it with others who can find it useful or interesting too. Your one share will make my day!
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Continue on to Part 3 : 10 Dangerous effects of Body insecurity where I shared how body insecurity can sometimes almost ruin your life.
This is part 2 of 6-part series on body insecurity where I share my history with body insecurity , signs of body insecurity, effects and reasons of body insecurity and tips to get over it and also motivational quotes to inspire you to love your body
- Part 4 : 10 Ways to Overcome Body Insecurity
Part 6 : 50 Body Positivity Quotes To Inspire You To Love Your Body
Social media and media, in general, can really wreak havoc on your self-image. There are so many unrealistic images out there.
I think we all go through this sometime during our lives. Thanks for your tips.
I used to compare myself to others but I have stopped doing that. I find as I get older I care less what people think and am proud of who I am.
This is a rough thing to deal with and I think that most people do at one point or another.
I think this is such an important topic. Body insecurity is so common too, it makes me sad to hear of it. Nobody should ever have to feel insecure.
As a Mom of a teenage girl who is currently attending a new high school, I worry about body insecurity with her often. Thank you for being so open and sharing your experiences.
This is a really interesting topic to talk about. I’m surely gonna share this with my friends. Thanks for sharing this with us!
I hope that my kids won’t have these kind of problems and will feel always comfortable in their body. But it’s important to learn to take care of our body!
Such a great article to read and very essential to know and understand! For me, just be ourselves always and everything will be alright!
The media is so influential. It can either boost your confidence or damage it and gives you insecurities that’s why I make sure to follow the right people.
Appearance is not everything. We need to teach the younger generation more self-love and self-acceptance.
I have watched family members battle this as well as personally. You hit many topics I can relate to. Thank you for bringing attention to an unfortunately necessary issue we should all give attention.
I don’t like when someone looking for a particular body feature. I totally agree with these reasons.
Many people like what to see and forget it’s not real life. Especially this time and age.
There really are so many things that contribute to insecurity, especially in this digital age. It is good to be aware of different influences.
That would be #5 and the last for me. I was a performer and during my time, appearances were everything. And #10, growing up, the heavier people have it bad. They’re always made fun of and get a lot of rejections.
Yyyeeeaaahhhhh…I literally see my childhood in all these reasons. It was only after I stopped caring what other people think of me that I overcame all these!
I know someone who has a lot of body insecurity. I had a touch of it in my younger years. It’s no joke.
It started with magazines and now social media can really damage your self-image. There are so many crazy photos out there.
I know of someone who will find this post super helpful!
This is actually true. There are many factors or reasons that may cause body insecurity. I guess the media and the peer pressure urging us to follow popular trends is one of the top causes.
This is indeed a good read. For some, it is not just within mental health, culture really is one of the factors, and the people around us affect it too.