How to Win the Battle for Your Daughter’s Body Confidence

Posted on Nov 04, 2021 Topic : Men's Christian Living, Women's Christian Living
Posted by : Dannah Gresh

Our society idolizes the body. Everything is about how we look and who is beautiful. Of course, beauty is often determined by a makeup palette, designer-name brands, and a little Photoshop magic. When we stop to consider the messages that perpetuate this plague, we find they are motivated by another idol—the almighty dollar. People can become rich by creating a society in which our appearance matters more than anything else. And if manufacturers, retailers, and marketers start early, they’ll have “cradle to grave” customers. That’s why our girls are at risk now!

In recent years, retailers have rolled out everything from thong underwear called Eye Candy to padded bikini-top bras for girls aged eight to twelve. Eyeliner and mascara sales for this age group doubled. (Someone tell me why little girls need those products!)

Unfortunately, only a tiny minority of moms are concerned about these issues.

Girls aged eight to twelve spend about $500 million a year on beauty products alone.1 At least one brand now markets its make up to girls as young as four. As long as moms let their daughters keep spending, marketers will continue targeting this age group. It’s all about money.

The Risks of Body Consciousness

A two-year study by the American Psychological Association Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls (a title that has the stench of body consciousness) revealed that products and marketing that target tween girls are linked to eating disorders, low self-esteem, depression, and

early sexual activity. Isn’t it ironic that instead of making girls feel good about their bodies, all these “beauty” products make our daughters—and sometimes us—feel fat or unattractive? Body consciousness will not serve your daughter well. Here are the two big overriding risks of body-conscious living.

Body consciousness creates a hyperawareness of every flaw, unique beauty mark, or divergence from the media’s norm of beauty.

This hyperawareness influences the way your daughter cares for herself and can be lethal. Low self-esteem, depression, and an early sexual debut—which are all related to what our girls believe about their bodies and their beauty—are big risks when our girls become victims of body consciousness.

More harmful still, body consciousness creates an extreme focus on the body at the expense of your daughter’s spirit

Children are supposed to be learning right from wrong between the ages of eight and ten, not how to accessorize an outfit or put on mascara. They should be learning to live healthy emotional, mental, and spiritual lives, not getting lost in tween dating drama or competitive unofficial beauty contests at school.

What Is Body Confidence?

It’s time to push the reset button, but take care how you do so. It’s not that your daughter’s body is bad. In fact, her valuable but temporal body houses her eternal spirit, and if she has a relationship with Jesus Christ, it is the temple of God. Her body is good and useful, which brings us to the definition of body confidence.

Body confidence is the awareness of your body’s purpose and ability to depend on it to do what God designed it to do without making too much or too little of it. When our thoughts about our bodies are based on God’s intended purpose, we experience God-esteem, not self esteem. And if we esteem God, we will understand the great value of our bodies without making too much of them.

Here’s the key. As you teach your daughter to confidently care for her body, emphasize the care of her spirit and teach her to press in to godliness.

While bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come (1 Timothy 4:8).