Primp No More

By Feliz Moreno

Sometimes I am tempted to sit in the bathroom and count how many girls come in just to look at themselves in the mirror. Some girls can spend a good five minutes in the bathroom at any point of the day just "primping."

Being the type of girl who takes about 10 minutes to get ready in the morning, (from the time I roll out of bed, to the time I walk out the door) it is hard for me to imagine living a lifestyle in which I spend a good portion of my time thinking about my body.

It is instilled in girls at a very young age to be aware of how their bodies look at all times. It is getting to be that time of year again when girls decide to strip down half-naked and lay out in the sun trying to achieve that ultimate golden-brown tan at the expense of their youthful skin. They will go through anything to get it.

Not only does your skin have to be beautifully bronzed, but your figure has to be in tip-top shape as well. If your belly sticks out too much or your thighs are a little wider than most, then you better hit that gym or cut down on your Ben & Jerry's consumption. It scares me a little bit how preoccupied girls have become with their bodies.

Sure, we can blame the media for some of these issues. When I visit home I sometimes pick up a copy of the "Seventeen" magazines that my sisters subscribe to, and when I leaf through them I always laugh about how they place their campaign to help girls have better body images a page before the diet and exercise suggestions. Mixed messages much?

Then there is the incessant body-bashing that goes on when a girl is amongst her best friends. If there is anything that drives me crazy, it is girls who complain about their "whale thighs" just so that other girls will tell them how skinny they are. And if you're a girl who doesn't complain about her body weight or structure then you must be way too over-confident. It is a lose-lose situation.

Here at Santa Clara I feel like the emphasis to look skinny and perfect is even more intense. Ranked as one of the "Fittest Colleges in America" by "Men's Health" magazine in 2006, the pressure to be thin here is felt by both men and women. But being surrounded by people who look so thin you wonder whether they have eaten in the past few days can't be good for anyone's psyche.

We need to start valuing our bodies for what they can do for us, not by how good they look. Appreciate that you can run a mile with having your knees give out, or that you can do five push ups, throw a ball, type, swim and breathe.
Those are the things that matter, not the little bit of belly fat you put on in the past three months. 

And if you really want to go on a diet, do it because you want to feel better and stronger during the day, not because you're concerned about the diameter of your thighs. Appreciate the fact that your legs carry you around every day.

There is nothing wrong with people wanting to look good, but when looking good becomes an obsession or something that you measure your success off of, then it's a problem.

There is no doubt in my mind that media images are the main proponents of a lot of this body hating that goes on among girls, but we have the power to counteract that as well. Don't forget how lucky you are to have a body that functions, never mind what it looks like.
Feliz Moreno is a sophomore English major and editor of the Opinion section.