‘The dilemma of (im)perfect bodies’, the new ABC podcast to rethink what you think about your physique (and that of others)

Human beings have a somewhat ambivalent relationship with the mirror: we look at ourselves in its glass surface to recognize ourselves in it, but many times we do not feel represented by the image it returns to us.

And on many occasions, The ‘culprit’ of this discomfort is our own physique. Or rather, the things we don’t like about him, what we consider defects, the result of genetics, age or, simply and plainly, the effects of life.

Our insecurities are joined by expressions that we have been hearing all our lives: “your best version” “the ideal body”, “the beauty canon”. Formulas that tell us that, for our physique to be considered more or less perfect, it must meet a series of requirements. Requirements that require us to be thin, but at the same time be muscular; with curves, but only in very specific parts of our anatomy; and with faces that barely register the passage of time.

For this reason, we are always thinking that we need to go on a diet, that we should exercise more, and even that maybe it is time to get a touch-up to get rid of the wrinkles on our faces. But what We don’t usually ask ourselves why we feel these pressures. And the truth is that, reviewing the history of humanity, we discover that they are not new concerns, that the shapes of our physique and our face have obsessed us for much longer than we imagined.

Therefore, to better understand what happens to us when we look in the mirror and question our reflection, we present the new work of ABC Podcast, ‘The dilemma of (im)perfect bodies’. A four chapter series in which we will investigate why it is so difficult for us to accept our bodies and why we aspire to physiques that are so difficult to achieve. We will try to understand the context in which some of our aesthetic obsessions arose and we will question whether it really makes sense to live thinking that our bodies are imperfect.

Starting on January 8, and every Wednesday, a new chapter of ‘The Dilemma of Bodies’ will be available on ABC.es and on all audio platforms.