Are you comfortable in your own skin? If you were offered the possibility of changing one thing about your body, would you make an alteration? Being comfortable in one’s own skin is something that seems to be trickier for people once they leave childhood innocence behind and move into those awkward teenage years and adulthood. To put in perspective just how different the opinions of adults are compared with how children view their bodies, the Jubilee Project asked 50 people one question: If you could change one thing about your body, what would it be?
The first half of the 4-minute video focuses on adults, whose answers vary from skin to forehead size to puffy cheeks. One woman shoots back, “Only one?” The second half, gives children the chance to speak up about their body modifications, and they had very different answers. Most of the kids are satisfied with their bodies and if they could change anything it would be fantastical changes to make them more like animals: a shark mouth, wings, cheetah legs, etc.
It’s a pretty clear distinction on how much more of a positive body image children have than adults. As we grow older we’re reinforced with negative body images from magazines, TV, and peers or family and internalize these negative body views. Kids on the other hand, haven’t yet been corrupted on their body views and think of themselves as fine just the way they are or would like to add something wildly creative in nature.
The video probably won’t change our society’s deep-seated viewpoints on what is and what isn’t beauty, but hopefully it’ll make us stop and think a little more the next time we’re bombarded with messages of what a beautiful body should look like.