No body but mine

It was a lazy morning and I was doing what I love – surfing around the oh – so wonderful Internet… and check out what I stumbled on.

"It's my body and my body/ Is nobody's business but my own/ Listen to me people…

…I'm a grown up woman / And I know who I am/ So if you got a problem / Well I don't give a damn…"

Lyrics of some never-heard-of song, but it went perfectly with my article. This should be the ideal state of mind, if you are an exuberant young person, taking on life with full force. But sadly, it's not so. So many girls and guys around us, give body image such priority, often giving mental and physical health a backseat. We've met so many young people who, at some point of time, have tried out some sort of extreme or half-baked measures to change their body shape, size or form. Some of them succeed, but most just wind up disgruntled, depressed and demotivated.

So I spoke to a few young people to see what body image really means to them, and if it's even an issue at all, among their peers.

Do you think young people in Sri Lanka actually care about body image?

"Oh yeah. What everyone ever talks about is how fat they're and how much they need to lose weight, says Nihara (23). "I think the whole "I need to lose weight" has become a trend because even people who are thin are forever saying 'Oh I need to lose weight.' I think young people just want to be thin. People think that wanting to be thin even though they are already stick thin is "in." And I guess guys would probably care about it as well, epecially when it comes to girls. I guess if I look at a bunch of girls, even I would subconsciously think that the thinner girls are better looking. It's just this state of mind."

Channa (18), also agrees that body image is definitely something young people in Sri Lanka care about. "Most people do, definitely. I guess girls are more conscious about it and get affected by it more, but guys are bothered by it too. I also think that it depends on your age, and as you grow older and more mature, it stops being too much of an issue, but when you are in your teens and very early twenties, it definitely is an issue for most."

For Afzaal (20), he feels that body image is an issue, but only in urban communities. "So yes, it is an issue for most young people around us, and though it's not a mental state all throughout the country, there is a tendency for that culture to spread to the villages as well, with media and stuff. At present it's the culture of the cosmopolitan areas. I think when it comes to body image, sometimes girls are more conscious and sometimes guys are more conscious.

Maya (25) feels that girls and guys alike are very conscious about body image, especially depending on their age. "Maybe between 15-22, would be the age you are most conscious about this, and it's apparent mainly from the way they dress, their views and such. It's a lot to do with Westernisation and media influence and stuff, since young people here are very much in touch with what's going on around them."

Do you feel that young people in Sri Lanka are affected by global trends and try to conform accordingly?

"I feel that young people in Sri Lanka do watch stuff like Fashion TV and music videos and stuff and get influenced by them and try to look like the models on them, but honestly I can't help but think why anyone would want to look like a clothes rack! I'm not generalising, but it is so, more often than not," says Nadia (22).

Asha (21) feels that most of the fashions that come into the country don't really cater to a more generalised body image. "It's like if you have a perfect figure, then you could fit into the most hip and funky outfits. Almost everything is catered to look good on people with a really great figure. And for everyone else, it's like go figure what you can wear. And they don't really cater to them or give them much of a range. So if you are in touch with global trends, but you don't have that perfect figure, you're basically left to figure it all on your own!"

"I feel that global trends do affect young people over here. For instance, when super stars like JLO and Beyonce came into the picture, and "Big" was portrayed as "In," I felt pretty good, being not-so-small myself!" says Aparna (24). "But though I do feel that global trends do affect kids here, still to a great extent, "thin is beautiful," in our part of the world! I feel that in a crowd of girls, the thin ones will still get more attention than the chubbier ones."

How do you see body image? Does it bother you personally?

"As for me, not so much now, but when I was in school, my body image really troubled me. I was worried that guys wouldn't like me, as opposed to my thinner friends. But with age, you get more comfortable with your body, and so now, if some guy has a problem with my body, I would just tell him to get lost!" says Vihara (24).

Chamali (22) "I hate the typical Sri Lankan greeting when you meet someone after a while, where you go "mahath wela" or "kettu wela" (you've put on, or you've gone down!) Everybody does that – I'm sure even I have done that at some point of my life, and that could really affect you and your opinion of your body, whether you are a girl or a guy. But I feel that by the time you get to your early twenties, you start becoming comfortable with your body size, so it doesn't really bother many people. Of course there's always this little fantasy in your head, where you wish you could just get into a bikini without scaring people! And some people might want to take drastic measures to get with the trend, such as go under the knife.

But personally, I feel that if you have half a brain, you would just respect your body and consider yourself lucky to just be healthy."

"For me personally, yes of course body image is important. I go to the gym whenever I can to stay in shape and stuff, and though it's mainly for health reasons, it's also to quite an extent, to be in touch with the trends and fashions around me," says Chinthaka (19). He added that when it comes to girls, he would not opt for a stick thin girl. "In terms of something long-term, I wouldn't really go for a girl who is extra conscious about the way she looks. I wouldn't be able to respect that much. And anyway I feel that slightly chubbier girls are more lovable!"

For Kiera (24), she apparently couldn't be more out of touch with things like body image "Not that I'm saying that I'm particularly happy with my body status or anything! And even if I am to change my body size, it would be just for health or personal reasons, but never to "get with" the trends around me, or anything like that.

I know for sure that for anyone looking at me, there are parts of my body that are not in proportion to the rest of me, and it might affect me health-wise eventually, if I don't do anything about it.

So yes for that, I will change my body form, but not for any other reason! As for every young person who does allow their body image affect their mental and physical status, all I've got to say is that it's sad, because you miss out on so much in life.

You could also lose out on your individuality and youth, if you allow such things to affect you, and I feel that there is so much more to life, than trying to fit into a particular frame, just so that you could be "in."