Shaping the Future Shaping the Future digital FINAL X | Page 32

FEATURE
In a study published by NPD, the num-
ber of teens buying plus-size cloth-
ing has nearly doubled since 2012.
“Teens are reinvigorating the plus
size teen market,” said Marshal Co-
hen, chielf industry analyst, The NPD
Group, Inc. So, if this is becoming
more and more common, why is it
that we are still having situations such
as cyberbullying and body shaming?
attempt to find our identity is someone else.
Allowing some to take advantage of that in-
security by telling us what we should and
should not look, eat, wear, say or do be-
cause of our size. Where did we lose our
selves to other’s opinions and . In the ab-
sence of self-esteem while being a plus size
girl, many say they’ve felt unwanted, unde-
sired and contantly judged.
We must continue to work on grasping
the reality that all people are not the same.
We are different and created beautifully
and wonderfully. We must first connect the
dots of our own lives and make sure we are
checking self, before we begin to judge or
make our own assumption about someone’s
situation or appearance.
THE BIGGEST IMPACT OF ALL IS
SILENCING OUR VOICES
WHICH WOULD COME TO AFFECT
THE SHAPE OF THE YOUTH OF TOMORROW
Shaping the Future’s
Impact on Young Women & Men
On the front
lines of this
conversation
are Trinity,
Koran, Aaliyah
& Breina
E
SHAPING THE FUTURE:
FINIDING SELF-CONFIDENCE AND
CONQUERING THE DIRECTION OF THEIR GENERATION
These for young ladies talks their path toward success while tackling conver-
sations around body shaming, sexual assault, depression, self-confidence and
building self-awareness.
T
here’s no de-
nying that something incredible is happen-
ing among the new generation of teens.
Most of them are standing for what they
believe, marching for their rights, creating
Written by Elizabeth Jae
organizations and hashtags, bring-
ing awareness to inequality, negativi-
ty and serious topics of conversations
that hasn’t been happening for centuries.
The topic centered around bodysham-
ing and self-confidence is no different.
But even as strides are being made regard-
ing diversity and inclusion, a few prob-
lems still exist where teens are consis-
tently silenced or ignored about the issues
that centers around their personal lives.

So in keeping with the mission
of AROA, we have created a platform for
the voices of four young ladies to be
heard around the world. Here, we aim
to celebrate their journey towards cos-
motology, performing arts, author-
ship, farming and entrepreneurship.
All with commonality among so many
young people around the topics at hand.
Whether it’s Amanda Lacount #break-
ingthestereotype to Gabi Gregg promot-
ing freedom of expression, the voice of
plus size women are being heard more
and more around the world.
The Invisible Scars
ven when the criticism doesn’t
turn violent, it can leave lasting
damages. Each young lady in this
feature, and others outside of our net-
work has expressed major issues with
cyberbullying and blatant criticism.
These issues continues to spread across
the world, creating anxiety and self-hate
among women from all over. The out-
come results in various actions, such as
self-inflicted scars, and plastic surgery
that alter appearances of women’s bod-
ies in order to fit the expectation of the
world’s suggestion of what the body
should look like. Oftentimes, women,
both young and old feel alone when it
comes to this topic. So they suppress
the thoughts of themselves and contin-
ue their day as normal. But those deep
scars continues to show its ugly head at
the most inopportune times. When they
are around friends and feelings arise
around appearances. What they look
good in and and what is just “not for us.”
Or, when they are attempting to date,
(those who are old enough to do so).
Females seem to overthink, and mostimes,
it’s negative thoughts that we think up that
keeps us in bondage in our minds. Espe-
cially when breakups happen in our lives.
“Maybe you were too fat and he is not into
big girls” we think to ourselves. Or maybe
he is just not ready to date someone with
high self-esteem and you should move on
and keep your head high. These types of
self-validations are extremely important.
Especially these days, when you can pull
up a feed of social media posts, and see
millions of people all around the world
who are fit and what the world would call
“perfect.” It’s all out there, exposed and
uncut, and unless you disconnect yourself
from television, social media and any oth-
er public platform, you will see it all daily.
But where does the fine line between fan-
tasy and real life begins? Owning the skin
that you are in while understanding that all
of these platforms are mostly designed for
pure entertainment. The snap of a photo
takes seconds. Therefore, we have no idea
what that person feels in the timeframe it
took for them to pose for the picture. In
understanding the reality of this, why is it
that we continue to compare ourselves to
others?
S
preading the word about “Shaping
the Future’s” purpose and mission
may have an impact on many who are
struggling with their self-esteem. Helping
them to understand that their accomplish-
ments are not based upon the size of their
bodies, but the significance of the desires
in their hearts. What they are willing to do
to get to that place of success and purpose.
Awareness conversations and movements
such as these could help evolve and broaden
how we think about plus size males and fe-
males around the world. Being careful not to
judge someone based upon their appearance
or size. Understanding that if we don’t con-
tinue to tackle these topics, we will remain
a part of the problem that causes a group of
people a lot of pain and heartache. We must
work hard to deny our negative thoughts of
plus size teens and focus on providing sup-
port and resources to those who are working
towards something that is of significance to
all our futures. Whether it’s through cos-
motology, modeling, farming or entrepre-
neurship, we all can benefit from the pos-
itive movements and desires of these four
young ladies. Read more on their personal
stories and how they are working diligen-
taly to shape the future of their generation.
“ We must continue to work on grasping the reality that all peo-
ple are not the same. We are different and created beautifully and
wonderfully. We must first connect the dots of our own lives and
make sure we are checking self, before we begin to judge or make
our own assumption about someone’s situation or appearance.”
33