(Newswire.net — April 21, 2020) —
We live in the most interconnected society in the history of the world. Thanks to the growth of the media, the internet, and smart devices, the knowledge of the world rests at our fingertips. While this technological advancement has also brought a lot of good into this world, it has also led to a society that is dominated by comparisons. While it is great for people to push themselves to be the best versions of themselves, society sometimes sets unrealistic standards.
That is exactly what Ednac Free felt. Ednac Free is a wife, mother, mental health advocate, and child development specialist. It all started back when she was a young child. She was driven every night to ask God to change her look to include blonde hair and blue eyes. That is what she was conditioned to believe was beautiful. She didn’t like being brown. She hated being short. She didn’t even like her brown eyes.
As she got older, she realized that this drive to have blonde hair and blue eyes actually came from the TV. While TV’s role is to gather as many viewers as possible, she realized that her mother would always comment on how beautiful the characters were. It turned out they were all white. They usually had blonde hair and blue eyes. Her mother even commented that she was trying to lose weight to look like the characters on TV.
This commentary extended far beyond her mother. She heard people on the street talking about how they wanted to look like the models from TV and magazines. Kids at school made fun of her teeth, as well as others who might have gained weight. Ednac Free became self-conscious of her teeth and tried to avoid smiling. This really damaged her self-image.
Eventually, all of this childhood trauma drove her to bulimia. She sought out therapy for not only bulimia but also anxiety and depression. While this hasn’t been a journey filled with joy and happiness, it has taught her about the importance of body positivity. She wants everyone, including her daughter, to know that beauty is not a single standard but is individual and different for everyone. Each person on Earth is beautiful in his or her own way. She is going to learn from the mistakes of prior generations and now leads a campaign of body positivity that seeks to improve the self-image of everyone around the world.