A recurring theme

After a retrospective consideration of my interests over the years, I have come to realise that body image, beauty and Photoshop have been recurring themes. In Matric, I was part of an academic discussion group known as 12 Club (as there were only 12 members, highly prestigious, Rah rah!). One person spoke per month and prepared an hour-long on a topic of their choice. It had to be something they found interesting and believed everyone else would too. Out of all the topics in the whole world, and my varying interests in art history, English etc, I chose to research and plan and hour-long talk on the science of beauty. I plan to post a breakdown of the interesting facts sometime soon.

Also in Matric, I wrote my June exam on the “Age of fitness fanaticism” (to follow in a post also). To be fair, this selection was made from a pool of exceptionally average topics. In first year Journ, we had to write a personal narrative. What did I choose? Body image. It’s actually a piece I am quite proud of since I got quoted in lectures and used as a good example. It was the university equivalent of a gold star, and my inner nerd glowed. It’s unfortunate I can’t take my own advice and put down the chocolate, though. This piece is also to follow soon in a post which is a fairly big deal since only about three people have ever read it, all of whom were markers.

 My interest is not self-destructive in nature, but rather genuinely curious. I am somewhat sceptical of the view of the media being the biggest influence on women’s body image and self confidence. I feel more greatly influenced by those around me. These are the people who I compare myself to, not fashion models who look like a peanut would fill them up. I am interested in how eating habits and ideas of body image and beauty are formed. If you know how they are formed, I guess that would give you the power to alter them.