Last night, Oprah Winfrey proved through passion, grit, and determination, anything is possible. By using a paramount platform at the 2018 Golden Globe Awards, she electrified an audience with messages that will lead girls and women from humility to heroism, subordination to supremacy, and injustice to truth.
She preached specifically to all the young girls watching: “A new day is on the horizon.”
Though Oprah’s message was received from a more political perspective, it could equally be as pertinent to the positive body image movement.
Oprah’s powerful speech conveyed that society shapes us in more ways than we know, and how society perceives us affects us on many levels. Similarly to politics and power, society has shamed women based on body and appearance. And, how society perceives our bodies translates to how we view ourselves and our self-worth. The more we look at perfect images of others and then look to find those same idealized characteristics in ourselves and don’t find them, the worse we feel about ourselves. Consequently, poor body image and low self-esteem inhibits our population to reach the pinnacle of achievement.
Oprah is the prime example of one who has overcome these barriers, and, is now, using her experiences and success to make waves in America.
Oprah declared, “For too long, women have not been heard or believed if they dared to speak their truth to the power of those men, but their time is up.”
Again, her message is applicable to the body image movement. Research has found that focusing on a woman’s appearance is enough for people to dehumanize a woman. Unfortunately, this is the reality we are battling in the quest for equality and opportunity.
It goes without saying that Oprah changed the landscape for women, and will continue to do so. Promising for better days ahead, Winfrey praised victims of abuse and injustice for telling their stories, saying “speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we all have.” Recognizing the magnitude of the #MeToo movement, Oprah said “each of us in this room are celebrated because of the stories we tell. And this year, we became the story.”
My mission since beginning Kick The Scale has been to motivate and inspire girls and women to feel powerful, confident, and competent regardless of how they look. That just because we come in different shapes, sizes, and colors, we should all have an equal opportunity to contribute to society, and influence the world. There is no better time to push this movement than now; and, there is no better person to lead it than Oprah.