Make Health the New Object of the Game

Make no mistake, women and girls are finding it difficult, often times impossible to break through the barriers of self-limitation, fear and shame. Females have learned from each previous generation that the suppression of feelings, desires and dreams is necessary to make it in the male-dominated world. The majority of today’s women have learned from their Grandmothers, Mothers, Fathers, advertising and the media that women are in-fact second-class citizens born to be objectified. Women fall prey to several myths and thus seek to cope by developing dangerous patterns of behavior; eating disorders to attain the “thinness body ideal” for example.

Women lead lives of multiple roles (daughter, wife, mother, friend, co-worker, etc.) and when given the new windows of opportunity for advancement in the realm of sports, careers, politics, etc., the overwhelming list of what is possible to achieve seems to outweigh the need for rest, positive relationships and realistic goal setting. Self-worth, self-respect, self-love and self-esteem are lacking and are sending the world’s women into spirals of depression, anxiety and disordered eating patterns. Our realistic perceptions of what is beautiful and what is healthy in regards to body weight and shape have been grossly distorted by the media.

Our culture has placed an unusually high value on external beauty placing unnecessary pressure on females (males are also starting to come under attack). Teaching young people (males and females) about how to cope with stress, how to maintain a healthy body and how to treat not only others, but our own selves with respect. If these steps in the right direction are taken, the world will be a happier, healthier place.