reasons why we need diversity in media and why it’s so important?

seeing diverse representation is more important than you think. only seeing white, blonde, size zero girls in the media can make little kids feel invalid because they do not look like that. putting this perception of beauty in their minds at such a young age is incredibly wrong.

the world is not only made up of straight cis white men and women. there are many genders, sexualities, body types, races... and by not having enough representation you’re basically trying to erase them from the society.

gay content won’t make kids gay, you can’t change your sexuality if you’re straight then you’re straight you won’t get influenced by seeing a gay main character. for years queer people grew up watching straight tv shows did it affect their sexuality?? no.

remember no kid is born homophobic, racist, sexist or a body shamer as they grow up they pick up on those horrible traits from the people they look up to.

if we had gay content people would have an easier time figuring out their sexuality and the same goes for gender identity, if people were introduced to those spectrums when they were little they would have a much easier time figuring out their identity.

not only that but for many years we’ve been teaching little kids unattainable beauty standards and impossible body images, them growing up seeing these made many people develop eating disorders, mental issues and insecurities in their teen years.

from toys we would play with to the magazines we would read, we were forced to believe that was what we were supposed to look like.

of course everyone experiences body issues but the media has more power over little girls. no one should feel less of a person just because they’re not the blueprint of the victoria secret models.

and just to be clear BODY POSITIVITY DOES NOT PROMOTE OBESITY!!! I REPEAT IT DOES NOT PROMOTE OBESITY! people seem to have trouble understanding this but body positivity means you can be beautiful and you can love yourself at ANY size, and it certainly doesn’t glorify obesity.

i’m aware that underweight people struggle with body image as well. you shouldn’t invalidate their feelings just cuz you don’t “see the problem” they might be struggling with loving their body just like you are. telling someone they’re skinny is not a compliment. remember that.

the media shouldn’t be normalizing promoting only size 0 body types. not only that’s unrealistic but they’re also setting the bar too high which leads to people getting plastic surgery,photoshopping the list goes on. and to be clear there is nothing wrong with doing those things.

if getting plastic surgery makes you feel happier i support you 100% the problem is people feel FORCED to change themselves. you can totally get plastic surgery if you want to but if you’re only doing it to reach that unrealistic “goal” that’s not healthy.

body dysmorphia is a serious issue and when you grow up surrounded with this sickly idea of “perfection” it’s unavoidable to ignore “what you’re supposed to look like”

as i said before of course men and non binary people experience similar things but society has less tolerance when it comes to women. apparently we can’t be above size 2, we can’t have acne or any imperfection at all. can you imagine how harmful that is to teach little girls??

instead of setting unrealistic goals why don’t we teach people how to love themselves and that they’re beautiful the way they are? if you’re healthy NO ONE can tell you to lose or to gain weight and even if someone’s unhealthy it’s not up to you to make that comment.

YOUR WEIGHT DOES NOT DETERMINE YOUR HEALTH

every race, every gender, every body type is valid and beautiful <3 you shouldn’t change yourself for anyone except you. if you’re happy the way you’re are no one has the right to tell you to feel otherwise.

that’s exactly why we need diversity in the media. not tokenism not queer bating we need actual representation. i know this is all over the place and it’s oddly long but it had to be said.