Body Image

The other day I took my kids to a pool party. While I was changing my son and my daughter was off with her friends a girl around 6 or 7 was asked why she was not changing into her bathing suit with the rest of us. Her response was it was unnatural. This made me stop for a moment. Why would this little girl think that it was wrong to get undressed in a locker room to change her clothes? So I said to her we all are born with no clothes. She was obviously confused as to why I said this. She just repeated that she felt that it was unnatural.

Who taught this little girl this notion? Why would you teach any child boy or girl what being naked is unnatural? I was happy that my own daughter wasn’t there for this conversation and my son to small to understand what was being said.

Please don’t get me wrong I believe that one should be modest and not just strip down anywhere. But for a child to feel that she isn’t comfortable being naked made me sad. What is going to happen as she gets older will she become ashamed of her own body?

There is this puritanical bullshit that we seem to now be pushing on our kids. Its as if we are going backward instead of moving forward. I may be overreacting but I feel as though this isn’t something a little girl should even be thinking about.

I will stop there and say I only hope to teach my own daughter that she should feel ashamed or that her body is unnatural. That she is beautiful both inside and out. No one has the right to make her feel bad about how she looks, even me.

(Image is from https://pixabay.com)