Reflective Essay: Two Different Types Of Body Image

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Body Image
When I hear the word body image I began to shrink inside. I have never really been comfortable in my own skin. As a child I was my own worst critic; I hated the color of my skin, my weight, to my hair. As a child my relatives would always say I was dark. So, I hated my skin color. I always wanted to be lighter because it seemed that light-skinned girls my age that were light skinned were able to get whatever they wanted. From the time I was a little girl I told myself I would get married to a white man, so I would have light skin children. In my mind my children would have the privileges I felt I was denied because I am dark skin. I do not think I start to think I was beautiful until I heard my father defending my mother
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From the time I could remember as a little girl I have always been told that I was fat from my father’s side of the family. My aunts would always make mean comments about my weight, so as time went by I was always self-conscious of what I ate around them and how much weight I had gain. Even now that I am a grown woman when I go home one of the first things one of my aunts always mention is my weight. I never told them how their comments affected me as a child, but now as an adult I either make a smart comments back toward them about their weight or ignore them. Knowing how damaging and hurtful the comments my aunts said towards me, I try really hard to watch the words I say to my daughter about her eating habits. I do not want her to be overweight or picked on about her size, so I am constantly on her about what she is eating and exercising. I do not want her to grow up with body image complexes, but I do want her to grow up healthy. A lot of my family members have died or still have diabetes and high blood pressure because of their poor eating habits. So, I am striving to find that right balance of being a concern parent and not pushing her over the edge to cause any body image

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