It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking we’d be astronomically happier if we could juuuust tweak one aspect of our lives.
Relationships might be at the crux of this belief — “When I find a boyfriend/get married, I’ll be so much happier” — or it might be finances, possessions, a certain career path, or the way you look. We all have our perceived hurdles.
For Chrissie Swan, like many women, it was her body. In a poignant Instagram post last night, the radio host recalled coming to the realisation five years ago that she’d been waiting “to be thin” in order to be happy.
From an outsider’s perspective, this is hard to imagine — Swan is easily one of the most effervescent media personalities in Australia, and rarely seen without that lovely, warm smile on her face.
However, the 42-year-old says her dissatisfaction about her body would have seen her waste her “whole fabulous life” if she hadn’t decided to shift her way of thinking.
“I started to think about this magical life I thought all thin people lead and I just started living it myself,” Swan writes.
This included having blowdrys and her nails done, taking leisurely walks, playing with her kids and wearing bras that actually fit.
“And guess what? My body does it all. Happily. And it’s not thin,” she explains.
“You’ll be amazed at the perfect things your imperfect body can do if you let it.”
Watch: Aussie singer Christine Anu reflects on her own body image perceptions. (Post continues after video.)
The path to body acceptance and love can be a treacherous one for any (if not every) woman to navigate.
However, due to her household name status, Swan is in the unenviable position of having her appearance endlessly scrutinised by the public and the industry she’s in. And it hasn’t always been positive.
In an interview with Studio 10 last year, she recounted an incident during the filming of Big Brother in 2003 that had left her feeling vulnerable.
“I was taking my bra off and I heard someone behind me say, ‘I know you like big women.’ And I was like, ‘What’s going on, are they sending pictures of my boobs to friends? Like what, have I become someone’s fetish?’” she said. (Post continues after gallery.)
We love these celeb quotes on body image
Image via @rebelwilson Adele"The first thing to do is be happy with yourself and appreciate your body - only then should you try to change things about yourself."
Image via Getty Lady GagaAfter the media focused on her alleged weight gain in September 2012, Gaga hit back at critics by baring her body in photographs, sharing her struggles with an eating disorder, and inviting her fans to join her in a "body revolution"/Image via @ladygaga
Dunham responded; "I realised that what was missing in movies for me was the presence of bodies I understood." She said she plans to live until she is 105 and show her thighs every day.Image via @lenadunham Alexa ChungChung responded to critics who suggested that her slight frame made her a bad role model for young women, saying:
"Just because I exist in this shape doesn't mean that I'm, like, advocating it."Image via Twitter @alexa_chung
Ultimately, though, Swan said she was unfazed by people who tried to shame her for her weight.
“When someone calls me fat – I know that, I’ve got a mirror, tell me something I don’t know. That really doesn’t bother me to be honest, that’s like saying I have brown hair,” she told the Studio 10 panel.
“I am an imperfect person and I know that about myself.”
Have you ever felt that something was holding you back from being happy?
Image: Getty.
Top Comments
I can't help but agree with her. As another woman who has struggled with my weight, I went through my entire teenage years and 20s not socialising, not having fun and just working the entire time, because I didn't think I was attractive, or loveable enough at the size I was. I had massive body issues and was always trying to lose the weight and had a lot of emotional issues that came along with that. Until I met a counselor who managed to persuade me to take a giant leap of faith in myself and just go out and enjoy myself, go to a club, dinner with friends, etc. Talk to that man who wants to get to know me (something I would have never done). I wished I'd met this counselor so much sooner, I would have avoided so much heartache.
I guess my point is, we (as big folk) are so ingrained to accepting society's judgement about our bodies, that we also place a massive burden on ourselves. When did having a socially-acceptable body shape become more important than loving yourself, being kind to yourself, being happy? In a world that seems to be drowning in people with mental health issues, surely coming to some acceptance, or PEACE with oneself is not such a bad thing? Or at least, loving ourselves while we're on our journey to a healthier body? Let's not forget there are many large people out there who are in the middle of losing weight, or improving our lifestyles, but it seems we can't celebrate that til we get to a "magic number" that society has deemed is appropriate to be happy.
I'm a Big Brother fan (and proud of it) and I remember that series that Chrissie Swan was on - and that incident. Swan was constantly deriding the appearance of the men in the house, saying she didn't find them attractive, and far worse. This was over and over. Yet the moment she overheard someone - a crew member - whisper something negative about her appearance, it was WWIII.
Jesus it was over 10 (?) years ago, give her a break! she was pretty young, and it was probably before this great realisation she had about her body. Perhaps she was incredibly self conscious and used that as a defence mechanism...
Well, Swan is the one who brought it up. Even being that long ago, I still remember the way she spoke about the men in the house, and me at the time being very affronted - and that was before Swan said she overheard one crew member whisper to another 'I know you like big women'. "Perhaps she ... used that as a defence mechanism". Oh, so that makes it all fine then.
(As an aside, this reminded me of the BB contestant 'Hot Dogs'. When a guy asked him what he thought of the females in the house, he said:
"....None of them are at the ... 'Dog' standard", while putting his hand flat and up to indicate 'top level'.)
Nah, it doesn't make it fine, it's a shitty thing to do but we've all done shitty things, and stuff from that long ago seems a little irrelevant, it could just be good PR but I don't think she's like that now? Putting other people down? Trust me, the big woman comment she heard would not have been the first time she heard something like that, if you're bigger and not happy with it it can be pretty much be a constant stream of negative talk from your own head. It's not a nice place to be in, hating yourself.