Does 'Fitspiration' Motivate or Encourage Self Hate? : VenusVision

Today on my VenusVision Facebook page, I reposted an article by Beauty Redefined Why ?Fitspiration? Isn?t So Inspirational which discusses the negative impact of ?fitspiration? or images and quotes that are supposed to inspire us to fitness. Based on some of the response, I wanted to offer an extended reply and expand on why I agree with the original post.

Here is an excerpt from one of the comments:

?Why is it a crime to suggest (through images, words, whatever) that only a few people are ever going to represent the ideal? That?s not demeaning, it?s truth. If it hurts your little feelings, use that to motivate you to go after your personal best, not cry over cultural obsession or objectification and use that as an excuse to say how it makes you feel so demeaned. If you want something, you have to give up the excuses and blaming anyone other than yourself, and go for it. Effort = results. Actions = priorities. So showing a tight body with the message ?get off your lazy ass if you want to look like this? is entirely appropriate to me.?

I think good physical health is an important part of good emotional health. I believe in taking care of and respecting our bodies, and I think there are a variety of ways to do that. But when the motivation to do so is extrinsic, as in when were are doing it to live up to some ideal determined by someone else ? and promoted in many ?fitspiration? or ?thinspiration? pictures and quotes, it can lead to unhealthy consequences that at best bring an end to the commitment to achieve said ideals, and at worst can lead to unhealthy body and food obsessions, and deadly eating disorders, which are on the rise across genders, ethnic, and age groups.

The waistlines in our country have been growing for several decades. We?ve all heard the statistics ? two thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. During the same time period, the diet and fitness industries have grown into multi-billion dollar money making factories. They provide plenty ? let me repeat ? plenty of thinspiration, fitspiration, and any other kind of inspiration that will make you want to spend money on their products and services because they know we all will ignore their dirty little secret: DIETS DON?T WORK. No matter how many posters and quotes and fitness magazines we look at, the reality is, 95 percent of us won?t be successful at losing weight for an extended period of time. If thinspiration and fitspiration really worked, surely there would be more than a 5 percent success rate among those who claim to be motivated by it.

It?s easy to call it a cop out to blame our culture for feeling demeaned, but the reality is, Madison Avenue has every intention of making you feel that way. After all, if you were happy with the way you were, what motivation would you have to buy the products that are supposed to make you better? Trust me, they wouldn?t spend the kazillions of dollars that they do if they weren?t absolutely sure that you would fall for their slight of hand tricks. They sell us a bill of goods, that if we look the way they tell us to look, we?ll be happy. Be thin and you?ll get the gorgeous guy, the big bank account, the McMansion, the convertible. Have six pack abs and your doctor will say hooray, forgetting to ask how many cigarettes you smoke each day and how much wine you drink at night to numb the self hate that comes from a life of always trying to please other people and live up to their standards, rather than exploring your genuine self. That?s not to say that everyone with six-pack abs or ?tank-top ready? triceps is unhappy with who they are. My point is that if the reason for challenging and strengthening their body comes from external sources of motivation, ultimately the euphoria achieved from reaching goals (if that euphoria is actually ever achieved) will most likely be fleeting as soon as another standard arises for them to meet, compelling them back into a cycle of body dissatisfaction.

Again, I want to point out that I think good physical health is an important goal for anyone. I think most people could benefit from turning off their computers and/or TVs and moving for 30-60 minutes a day, and not just because the latest health reports say it?s good for our hearts, but because like rats in a cage, we go a little crazy if we don?t get to move our bodies, even if it?s in a ?hamster wheel?. But I firmly believe that shaming people by convincing them that there is one ideal of health and beauty, as fitspiration/inspiration so often does not only is ineffective in providing long term motivation, but it also to perpetuates the idea that we are only as good as our bodies look. Someone may look at a picture of a beautiful body and suddenly feel compelled to go spend an hour on the eliptical, but the motivation has nothing to do with achieving a higher level of cardiovascular health and everything to do with molding their shameful body into something worth looking at. Some may argue that if the end result is the same ? a healthier body ? than what difference does it make? Well, if you are happy to achieve the short term ?success? of a fit body while sacrificing the longer benefits that come from an intrinsically motivated health and fitness routine, I guess it?s not really a problem. But if you hope to achieve a balance in emotional and physical health, it might be useful to begin by ending the body shaming that comes from the media and so called ?fitspiration.?

I LOVE my body. I am proud of my body. I don?t let my weight determine my value or my assessment of my health ? all in spite of the fact that it is in no way shape or form any sort of ideal, at least by outward appearances. When I go to my doctors now, I don?t even let them weigh me anymore because I don?t want a number on the scale to be how my health is judged by them or by me. I have told them they can talk to me all they want about my blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar levels, and cardiovascular health, but so far, every year at my physical, all of those numbers indicate I?m in excellent health which is contrary to what they would think if they simply looked at my weight. Despite all of this, I still have to actively reject the constant messages that tell me I should be thinner if I am to be seen by our world as beautiful and/or healthy. And the key word there is ?active?.

We live in a culture where we are constantly told that our body parts represent our value and place in our society, and some people don?t have a problem with that fact. I certainly can?t tell someone else what they should or shouldn?t be motivated by. I can simply state the facts and make choices for myself, and hopefully inspire people who wish to to achieve a healthy balance between mind and body. I will also continue to encourage people to think critically about the media they consume as well as continue to voice my opinions about the messages I see as damaging to the mind, body, and spirit.

As Jenni Schaefer said in her recent post Body Image: I Love How I Look in a World That Doesn?t, ?Make a choice today to love your body. It will love you back.?

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