Women Are More Proud Of Their Bodies Than Ever, And It's About Time

Right now is an amazing time to be a woman, especially compared to the 1980s.

I mean, we have incredible women like Ashley Graham and Tess Holiday paving the way for the body positive movement. And let me tell you, it's working.

According to a massive study, the percentage of women who are dissatisfied with their bodies has significantly declined from 1981 to 2012.

And it's not only women who are learning to love what their momma's gave 'em.

Researchers evaluated over 250 studies that included more than 100,000 people and saw declines in women's dissatisfaction with their bodies.

There has also been a slight decline in dissatisfaction with levels of strength and power for men, but overall, there hasn't been significant change.

Either way, this is pretty monumental.

Feeling uncomfortable in your own skin and not liking what you see in the mirror has been a huge factor in the development of eating disorders and body image issues. It also has a huge impact on your self-esteem.

Why has there been a decline? Well, researchers attribute this positive change to the increase of a diverse representation of body types in the media.

Study author Bryan Karazsia said,

In the past few years, we've seen more and more of the idea of body acceptance . . . and more media awareness [of this issue] growing from societal influences.

This is why it's so important to see all different types of body shapes and sizes represented in the media. Over time, it can make a difference.

There is one interesting twist, though.

In 2012, more than a third of adults were obese, and not much has changed since then. Despite that, people are still satisfied with their bodies more than ever.

Taking this into consideration, Karazsia was a little surprised.

He explains,

When we consider humans in the United States, where most studies in our review were conducted, are physically larger than they have ever been, with more than two thirds of adults being overweight or obese, one might expect body dissatisfaction should be increasing. But we found the opposite.

So it's great we're seeing the positive results of different types of bodies in the media compared to 30 years ago. And it's great that more and more, people are learning to love themselves.

But what's alarming to me is, obesity rates aren't going down. We shouldn't become so accepting of our bodies that we throw all healthy food choices out the window.

Just some food for thought, people.

Citations: Women are happier than EVER with their bodies (Daily Mail)