probably asked myself the same questions
as most of the speakers do what should I
say and other things I’d like to say
really ideas worth spreading and what
should I wear will people clap and hoozy
a Stickley or will they fall asleep in
their seats what happens when my talk is
released on YouTube
well people watch it and like it or will
the army of trolls flood YouTube and my
twitter account with hateful comments
how many of those comments will refer to
what I am saying and how many of those
comments will refer to what I am wearing
to what my face or my body looks like
and how many of those comments will try
to insult me by calling me fat or ugly
well you might say now oh why does she
care about the haters or you might say
well she’s not that ugly why does she
want to talk on a stage about body
images or you might say well if she
cares so much about what other people
think about her and her body it’s
because she has a very low self-esteem
she should just start loving herself
love yourself okay thank you that sounds
like a plan
love yourself easy peasy you’re laughing
because it’s not easy every day we are
surrounded by images ideas and products
suggesting us that we should try hard to
improve ourselves be slim be healthy be
cool be smart be a good lover you good
mother be a good employee
have silky skin shiny hair and never
complain but also don’t be so hard on
yourself don’t take things so seriously
embrace yourself be one with yourself
love your self to my ears this sounds
like a constant struggle for people all
over the world that withdraws a lot of
energy from us love yourself
despite the voices that tell you not to
the media the fashion industry and that
guy insulting you on Twitter as a fat
under fact feminazi once you start
raising your voice against body
obsession so I choose a subject for my
talk that also has its very own category
within the YouTube channel of the TEDx
conventions called our beautiful bodies
but I would like to object to this
categories title with my own inspiring
point of view called something like I
haven’t figured out the title yet
something like mmm why not giving a
about body images won’t help you either
or three things that should not be
mistaken for body positivity so let me
start with one of my favorite things to
do
deconstructing popular statements on
what a body a normal body is what a
normal body should be and what a normal
body cannot be so let me start with the
first thing to say all bodies are normal
you’ve heard that sentence all bodies
are normal second one all bodies are
beautiful and the last one love your
body
so let me start with all bodies are
normal one of my first memories of going
shopping for clothing on my own was when
I was about 13 years old I was already
very tall and long lagged and with
strong thighs I wanted to buy a pair of
jeans in my size at a small shop in my
very small even smaller hometown in
Black Forest in Germany so I entered the
store and asked this tiny shop assistant
for a pair in my size she eyeballed me
from head to toes and back and said oh
dear I’m so sorry we only have fashion
for people with normal bodies you’re
laughing I was shocked I was so shocked
by her assumption that I was not normal
that my body was not normal that it was
abnormal imagine yourself being a
teenager in the countryside being tagged
as not normal there’s nothing worse
there’s nothing worse so I left the shop
crying and never entered it again about
a decade later when I started my
research for my PhD thesis on visual
representation of disability in the
media I dived deep down into the history
of normality to find out where this
notion of a normal body came from the
concept of normality emerges in the 18th
century in educational medical and
industrial contexts in order to
understand nature in society scientists
started collecting tons of data and
invented methods to describe what they
saw what they found out
they also invented methods for example
to describe the human body and to
describe the frequency of certain body
types this was a great use for the
textile industry it was the first mass
fabrication of uniforms for Prussian
soldiers and by this the first garment
size was born and it was called normal
hemp a normal shirt of course those
uniforms did not fit every soldier but
by creating a standardized method of
measuring the human body simultaneously
the normal body was created at something
if the uniform fits and as something not
normal
outside normality if the uniform did not
fit this means that something is called
normal when it applies to a
simultaneously created majority and
constructed majority of people of human
bodies that neither existed in old
Prussia nor exists today regarding the
historical concept of normality we have
to ask ourselves a claudius added does
the normal body really exist spoiler
alert it probably does not but if we
call on the fashion industry to show
more normal bodies instead of skinny
bodies we’re making two huge mistakes
first we claim that the normal body
really exists second we deny skinny
people as well as fat people their mere
existence within society
and it is an undeniable fact that all
bodies exist they are real and they are
not negotiable
remember that sentence because it is up
to all of us to make to create
visibility of those bodies it is up to
all of us here at this TEDx convention
it’s up to the media it’s up to politics
and it’s up to every single person
sitting here in the audience to show the
variety of existing bodies again and
again and again beauty is a relative
concept why is it a relative concept
well our curvy woman or a not curvy
woman was regarded as something super
sexy in the 1920s but in the 1950s a
super curvy woman like Marilyn Monroe
became a worldwide sex symbol and a
woman with a butt like Kim Kardashian
would not have had the success she has
nowadays in the 1990s remember Kate Moss
harian chic but something that never got
out of fashion is the assumption that a
woman has to self optimize and
self-regulate herself in order to reach
a certain beauty standard and let’s be
honest
where are the all those women who really
manage this challenge do we all all the
women here in the audience do we all
look like Kim Kardashian nowadays only
because she seems to set the standard
with her Instagram frame body I’m sorry
but I don’t see too many Kim
Kardashian’s fear or hands up if I
forgot one so let’s be honest
it is absolutely impossible that all
bodies are beautiful if we stick to one
certain beauty standard if you see this
phrase here all bodies are beautiful I
want to change it maybe you agree with
me all bodies are beautiful to someone
somewhere and some when this makes us
free from the pressure to feel super
sexy and super beautiful even if we just
got up feel like crap look into the
mirror after a night of drinking or
partying or singing our baby to sleep it
is absolutely okay to find yourself ugly
and disgusting or unbearable as long as
it is your decision to do so
I’m not gonna lie to you if your
decision can be influenced by Photoshop
bikini models on the cover of Vogue and
Elle that’s absolutely possible but
maybe your decision can also be
influenced by people around you who love
you and who care for you to me you are
beautiful
that’s one of the most honest things a
partner a lover a friend a mother a
brother a sister a father can say to you
it means that you’re unique
you’re special you’re extraordinary and
not only your body but how you fill this
body with life not giving a about
body images is a privilege and it is a
privilege that is not granted to
everyone in our society what about
disabled people who do not get a job due
to their physical appearance
what about fat people who do not get the
medical attendants they need what about
people of color who are subjected to
racism and discrimination on a daily
basis what about all those who are just
fed up by being mocked for their looks
their style and their body and what
about all those who just want to feel
normal love your body
this must feel like a punch in the face
to them because it’s not their
responsibility but quite the opposite
self-love alone withdraws responsibility
from a society that does not understand
the advantages of diversity but tries to
normalize its members in order to get
its statistics straight that’s confusing
to me right so when I started preparing
this TED talk I watched a lot of videos
on body positivity on the YouTube
channel that’s what also most of the
speakers do we watch a lot of YouTube
and there was this one speaker who said
that not feeling beautiful means not
being powerful okay I have to confess
something to you then although I’m
standing here on this stage trying to
give a powerful talk I admit I do not
consider myself a beautiful woman and I
do not love my body but we’re friends
we’ve known each other for a long long
time we get along sometimes we fight
sometimes we go out for dinner we love
going out for dinner sometimes we don’t
talk to each other for days because we
feel disconnected and sometimes I look
at my body in the mirror and
I’m disappointed of what I see because
the body I see does not fit the concept
I have of a good-looking body but that
is absolutely okay good friendships need
no hurry or pressure or exaggerated
expectations I do not have to feel
beautiful to show my power to you my
strength my power my energy do not
derive from my body as a surface on what
you see here and it does not derive from
my body as a surface on which that dude
that douchebag from tinder projects his
ideas on of what a perfect woman look
has to look like No
half of my energy and you might notice
that comes from being terribly angry
about a society yeah you noticed that I
have energy because I’m angry I’m angry
about a society that rather normalize
normalizes the human body and denies
this amazing capacity a human body has
of interacting with the human mind and
interacting with other bodies and other
minds the other half of my energy comes
from good and loyal people around me my
family my friends my colleagues and if I
should ever try to become somebody else
just to feel beautiful
I hope they tell me this one thing to me
you are beautiful [Applause]