Latinas and Body Image

Things change and rearrange, why do we try and exclude our bodies?

I recently and randomly ran into a good friend from high school, turns out, her aunt lives two houses down from where I care-give. We decided that after my time with the girls, we would hang out.

At 1:00, I called my friend and she said, "Come inside, my aunt wants to meet you." As I reached the top of the stairs, my eyes fell in love with her house, the colors, the decorations, all of it. It was extremely clean, and some might say that all of the color make the house too busy, but for me, it made me feel right at home.

Her aunt and I immediately clicked, we changed subjects almost every minute as we laughed in between. Her aunt was a sweet lady, outgoing, friendly, and made you feel like her house was your house. Her presence alone made me shift from sitting up straight on her couch to slouching and cuddling with a pillow.

Once my friend and I decided that it was time to go, her aunt came out to say good-bye. She shook my hand and once her hand met mine, she said, "You give a great handshake, which means you are an honest and sincere person. I love your spirit, it's colorful, you have great energy." Almost immediately after, she reached out to touch my stomach, rubbing it as if I had a baby bump, she then said, "You have a great figure." At this moment, I thought to myself, "This woman is serious right now? She just finished talking about my character, now she's rubbing my stomach!" I'm accustomed to Latin women being so forward when it comes to bodies and the compliments and/or putdowns that they give so I wasn't shocked or offended, I was comically entertained. Immediately after touching my stomach, she put her hands on my waist and said, "I can actually see your waist, how nice, I can't even see mine anymore." I told her, "You look great for your age, what are you talking about?" She then explained to me that when you age, body parts shift from their original places.

My purpose in this post isn't to state the obvious, it's a known fact that women are under a lot of pressure when it comes to body image, however, I guess all I'm trying to do is poke fun at the fact that Latina women can be extremely forward when it comes to their bodies and the commentary on the bodies of others. We as women also need to stop comparing ourselves to unrealistic standards, especially when age comes into play. I may eat my words when I am 65 but I'll acknowledge the fact that when I'm 65, I won't have the same metabolism as I did in high school, or the metabolism that I have now which is slower than the metabolism I had in high school.

I believe that my body and my assets are sacred, and although compliments are nice, I feel that there needs to be recognition that a body is personal. For women who are well-endowed, petite, or slender, our body parts aren't who we are or what we do, they are simply body parts. And, our bodies are the standard. I remember asking a friend in high school, "You ever notice that a Barbie body is like, non existent, or one in a million? How come they don't make Barbies that look like everyday people?" Her response, "Because they wouldn't sell."

"Everybody is unique. Compare not yourself with anybody else, lest you spoil God's curriculum."-Baal Shem Tov