Curves all over the World (American culture sucks sometimes)

This isn’t the first, and will probably not be the last time I mention how astounded I am at how obsessed people are with their own bodies. Recently I’ve started thinking about if this is just an American thing or if it’s just a girl thing to want to be skinny. Interestingly enough, Americans are the only ones that really care about this stuff. 

Here’s what I found on 4healthylife.com,

Waist to Hip Ratio

An important factor that measures the level of woman’s attractive is waist-to-hip ratio. Waist-to-hip ratio is calculated by dividing the circumference of woman’s waist by circumference of her hip. However, the preferred ratio is different in different countries. Like in Western countries, women with waist-to-hip ratio of 0.7 are considered most attractive. In Asian countries the ratio is 0.6 while in Latin American and African countries the ratio of 0.8 is found most appealing. This shows that hourglass figure is most liked by men.

…Wait, there’s more from an amazing post on lemondrop.com

South Africa 
For the women of South Africa, there was a brief moment in the post-Apartheid 1990s where the emulation of Western culture meant a distinct rise in eating disorders. But since then, a radically different, pro-body-image movement has arisen, due in no small part to the fact that the spread of AIDS has caused thinness to be associated with illness.”When you lose a lot of weight there, people immediately start asking if you’re sick,” Savacool said. An interesting consequence of this is that Levi’s have begun selling a special cut of jeans to flatter curvier South Africans; the style is not yet available in the United States, but does well overseas.

Fiji
The Fijian nation’s leaders have striven to connect the once-isolated island with the rest of the world, but the influx of American and Australian television and films has begun spreading an unhealthy body image in a culture that has always embraced eating — to the point where every visitor to a home is immediately greeted with a gift of food. There are pro-curves movements afoot, but the culture has been compromised by Western society.

Jamaica
For young women of this Caribbean nation, it’s socially essential to have a little junk in the trunk, as the dance styles most popular in the country rely heavily on being able to shake what you got. As a result, curves are most definitely embraced, but naturally thin women are occasionally driven to consuming high-fat “chicken pills” in an effort to gain weight.

Afghanistan
Savacool is quick to point out that the body-concealing burqa used to be a personal choice for women, but is now a matter of national law. Beyond that, curves are definitely embraced. Additionally, a woman’s face and hair are given equal emphasis when judging her beauty. The longer a woman’s hair, the better, it’s believed, but it is often true that Afghani beauty is more defined by a pretty face that a toned body.

I’m not going to say that these countries don’t have their own body image issues, no one is perfect. But at least they’re all promoting curves as something beautiful and healthy, not like Americans who see them as wrong or disgusting. 

Luckily, as this “trying so hard to diet and exercise to be thin, not healthy” trend is progressing, there are more and more women becoming aware of body image issues amongst not only grown women, but ESPECIALLY in teenage girls. I just came across an article in which they ask their readers to send in a picture of a body part they’re dying to change on Huffington Post, LOVING IT. They’re asking for it to be completely unedited and it’s working! Click here to read the whole piece. 

And I will leave you with this, I have gained ten pounds, (maybe twelve) over the past year. AND I F***ING LOVE IT.