Social Awareness #2

I am fifteen

Voice 1: My arms are the size of twigs

Voice 2: My arms are lumpy sacks of potatoes

When I look in the mirror I know that im not perfect enough

Voice 1: I see all the flaws, no matter how small

Voice 2: My flaws are so visable that everyone can see

Voice 1: I have to force my self to eat

Voice 2: I eat too much

Food is my biggest weakness

Voice 1: I weigh 86.3 pounds to be exact

Voice 2: I weigh 201 pounds

I cant do a lot because of my weight

Voice 1: I throw up my food

Voice 2: Last night I threw everything up, because I ate way too much

I cant seem to keep it down

Voice 1: I’m so small that sometimes I feel like people just can’t see me

Voice 2: I am huge, I could be seen from a mile away i

I want to be better

Voice 1: My mother tries to force food into me

Voice 2: My dad calls me a “ disgusting fat slob”

They just don’t understand

Its not my fault that im like think, I honestly want to change I just need help

         My poem targets the social issue of body image. While writing this poem I had to recall previous books that I’ve read. The books that helped me get a better out look on the social issue of body image were Wintergirls by  Laurie Halse Anderson and Perfect by Natasha Friend. These books both dealt with body image and how it affects teenagers in America. In perfect the main character Isabelle Lee is a little overweight because when her dad died she started to eat a lot for comfort so my inspiration for voice two was basically from Isabelle.

         Voice 1 was based on the main character Lia in Wintergirls because Lia is anorexic and she struggles with her body image her goal was to be skinnier than her dead friend Cassie she doesn’t hold her food down and she doesn’t eat. She also weighed a really low weight for her age that was unnaturally unhealthy. I thought that since I had read books about two different types of body images and eating disorders because they contrast but in a way are really the same.