Another incident of unnecessary body shaming hit the news this Monday morning when a family was refused on to their flight from Denver to Minneapolis because their 9 and 10-year-old daughters were dressed in leggings.
Apparently, leggings on female children are not considered “appropriate” to travel in when flying on free or deeply discounted passes. As Patricia Arquette tweeted,”leggings are business attire for ten-year-olds whose business is being children.”
Without going into the whole issue of gender bias,
What does this incident do to their emerging self- image as women?
What effect will that have on their body image now and in the future?
What can we do as individuals to stop those humiliating events before they happen?
Yes, the family flew on the next flight…after the girls changed their leggings into something else, or perhaps simply covered them with a skirt or shorts.
Unfortunately for those girls, there is no do-over. The damage has been done…at a national news level, no less! No amount of celebrity tweeting their outrage in defense of the girls, no amount of apologies from embarrassed airlines, and no amount of policy explanation from the parents will undo the damage inflicted on the girls’ nascent self-image.
Fortunately, there is help for all of us whose body image has suffered assaults from individuals, the media, each other as we matured from girls into women. The moment we get in touch with our best friend forever, our body, we will be able to restore body confidence to the level we deserve.
I am here to help.
Contact me for a sharing conversation at no charge to you.
Sincerely,
Stephanie Wood,
Founder of the “Body Knowledge System®”
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