Body

I have just been reading a piece on the BBC website regarding body image http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20252921 which discusses 6 photos that changed the perception of body image.
I am as conscious of my appearance as the next person, indeed I may be more vain than most but we have in my lifetime developed an obsession with how people look and what is the ideal appearance etc.
We have increased this obsession exponentially as the cult of celebrity, photography, films, the internet and frivolous publications have increased!
I would be the first to encourage people to lose weight and be as fit as they can, otherwise I would be contradicting many of my beliefs and pieces I have previously written.
There is a delightful variation in the human race and it is one we should celebrate. We cannot all be the ideal shape or aesthetic appearance, indeed how dull the world would be if that was the case. As is often stated "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" and this is more true today than ever. Individuality should be encouraged and cherished. Have not all of us met a person that is not not the conventional idea of beauty and yet they are inescapably attractive (and not always because of their looks).
Personally I am not fond of the current predilection in women (actresses etc.) for a thinness that, to me, makes them look ill. I prefer a woman with more curves. What concerns me is that this "ideal" will encourage even further, young women to believe they should aspire to look the same and many will take radical action to achieve this. Of course this has and probably always be the case but with our massive access to all things media related it is more prolific than ever.
Let us accept variation, the differences, the idea of what attraction is, the myriad forms of the human animal and not encourage, people to match an ideal concept of what they should look like!
Let us promote a positive attitude, to the way that each of us looks and improve the self-confidence of those who are seduced by the images that they are bombarded with being duped into believing they will not be accepted unless they conform. We have seen far too often the ruination of many lives.
Body image is what you want it to be for yourself, within the your physical shape and fitness, celebrate yours!