Love Your Body Day 2010 | A day to celebrate healthy images

Love Your Body Day encourages healthier perceptions of beauty. Image: Flickr / Helga Weber / CC-BY-ND

In September of 2008, the National Organization for Women launched Love Your Body Day. Intended as a day to rally against unrealistic body images, Love Your Body Day 2010 encourages speaking out. There are some, though, who say events like Love Your Body Day miss the point.

Love Your Body Day by NOW

The National Organization for Women, through the Women’s Health Project, founded the Love Your Body campaign. National Love Your Body Day 2010 is on Oct. 23. People across the country are encouraged to “say no to twisted beauty standards and hazardous advertisements.” Everything from rallies to individual statements are encouraged.

Why Love Your Body Day 2010 could be necessary

Love Your Body Day 2010, like all previous Love Your Body Day celebrations, was started because of skewed body images. Many advertisements and media representations of bodies and body images are not necessarily healthy or realistic. Whitney, winner of a season of America’s Next Top Model and widely renowned a plus-size model, is about a size 12. With more than 50 percent of women wearing a size 12 or larger in the United States, that means that the sizes often relegated to specialty boutiques are, in fact, average. With most clothing and marketing materials carrying images of women who are “below average” size, there is concern that the body images of many women are being skewed.

Arguments against Love Your Body Day

Though it is well-accepted that women’s body images are possibly skewed, there are arguments against Love Your Body Day. One argument is based on the fact that body image is not just a women’s issue. Ten to 15 percent of the individuals in the United States that suffer eating disorders are men. There are others who argue that Love Your Body Day is simply encouraging positive image of a very serious health issue — obesity.

In reality, Love Your Body day most likely falls somewhere in the middle. Does it focus on just one women’s issue? Yes. However, health is beauty, and being healthy does not always mean being a size four.