"6 Pack"
The Peek Perspective on Bodies and Worth
Recently I met up with a friend for an early morning run, while the stars were still brilliant and the moon shined bright. After we finished, we stood in the parking lot marveling at the beauty of the sunrise. We started talking about how our view of exercise has evolved over different seasons of life; where it once was a vehicle to gain a certain aesthetic, it is now our therapy. Our motivation to be healthy now centers around our desire to live a long healthy life, to enjoy our families and keep up with our kids… and not to keep up with a certain image.
As we stood there talking about body image, and the world’s expectations, I suddenly had a vivid memory:
When I was in 7th grade, I was given a nickname by the boys at school. It was a name that embarrassed me back then, though I wouldn’t mind it now. The name?
“6 Pack.”
Jason and Josh, if you’re ever reading this, I’m pretty sure you’re the ones to blame. I was an active country kid who played outside often, enjoyed sports, and had the genetic good fortune for a lean and muscular teenage body. In those days, there was no Kids Crossfit, and I certainly wasn't counting macros (neither of which I currently do either). My parents weren’t pushing me to become a miniature professional athlete (ahem… that’s another blog for another time…for the current youth sports-obsessed culture we live in). I simply had the fountain of youth and rapid metabolism working in my favor.
I did, in fact, have visible 6-pack abs.
And I couldn’t have cared less about it. In those days, the girls around me were starting to take notice of things like makeup, fashion, and had bodies that started blossoming in ways that my youthful one had not yet. I hated when boys would approach me and say things like, “Hey, I heard you have a 6 pack. Is that true?! Show me.”
I’m sorry, you would like me to lift my shirt and show you my stomach?! Ummmm… NO. But good try, though.
These were also the days before the world was selfie-obsessed, social media-curated, and blasted with “health and fitness” guru opinions at every turn. I don’t have a saved album of “6-pack” posed photos that I captured during those genetically blessed years (that would have been weird, especially since all photos were printed and developed at our local photo counter in Walmart, right?!) Unless you were in the grocery store check-out line and saw a magazine cover touting an airbrushed celebrity model, most young girls really didn’t think much about society’s opinions or expectations of their bodies.
Until the boys made it a topic of conversation. Why are girls’ and women’s bodies always the topic of conversation in our society?!
Fast forward several decades, and suffice it to say I no longer have that visible 6-pack after having 3 babies. (Or maybe I do, and I’m just not going to show you, haha). But women’s bodies are still the topic of conversation. And now I have three girls of my own. They are growing up in an image-obsessed, aesthetics-driven, comparison-crazy world.
At 6, 8, and 10, my girls are also active country kids who love to play outside and enjoy sports. They, too, may develop the same “6-pack” I once had. And perhaps they won’t. But I cringe to think about the way they will grow up so much more aware of the world’s expectations of girls’ (and women’s) bodies than I ever did. At every turn, they will be faced with promotions from a society that capitalizes on body image, beauty standards, and filtered photos.
If I could go back and tell my 6-pack, 7th grade self one thing, it would be this:
You don’t need to be ashamed of your strength, and you don’t ever have to shrink to fit someone else’s expectations. Your body will change and evolve but your worth will not. Keep your shirt down and your head up. The world’s opinion of your female body has no place here.
At 40 years old, I find that sometimes I still need that reminder. And maybe you do too. May we be people who don’t put our value (or our shame) in the way others view our physical bodies. May we speak kindly to our bodies and refuse to let them be defined or controlled by the opinions of others (not by social media, not by middle school boys…and certainly not by the government.)
And may we never base another person’s worth on the body they live in either.
Wishing you strength and health in this season more than ever,
Dr. Peek