Are women in Bahrain adopting weight-loss surgery to meet unrealistic beauty standards?

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Reported by Julia Cassano

More women are turning to quick fixes such as weight-loss surgery to conform to prevailing beauty standards set unrealistically by the influencers of social media platforms.

Tempted to live up to such false beauty standards, those who opt for quick fixes still remain unhappy, according to a young Bahraini woman who opted for weight-loss surgery.

A 25-year-old Bahraini woman, who wished to be known only as Tofoof, disclosed to The Daily Tribune how unrealistic beauty standards seized control of her life.

"From a young age, I yearned to be beautiful and to be wanted. And due to the photos I often saw on social media from popular Instagram influencers, I would constantly criticise my own body," she said.

"Social pressure is a real thing, and it leaves many young girls dissatisfied with how they look." Tofoof, who was 24 at the time of the surgery, ultimately decided to get weight loss surgery to allay her body image concerns after years of deliberation; sadly, this didn’t end her worries.

"Despite having the surgery, my worries about my body persisted," she said. After a two-week recuperation period, the Bahraini claimed that she still felt behind on her results and that she had more work to do on herself.

"Even though I was thin after the surgery, I continued to limit my calorie intake; it seemed like the surgery had little effect on my self-consciousness regarding my appearance," she stated. The young Bahraini woman claimed that even though she is at her "ideal weight" and "best self" a year after having the surgery, she still endures comments about her body from others. "You look very thin today."

"Have you gained weight?" "I preferred you before." "You look better now." She and other young women encounter comments of this nature, which cause them to doubt their reality. A top nutritionist and health coach in Bahrain, Moayyed Feroze, revealed to The Daily Tribune that he too witnesses the real pressures women face in the online world.

"Because of how much we rely on social media, we are witnessing standards for health and fitness based on what we can see. And the images we see online aren’t naturally fit and shouldn’t be used as benchmarks for fitness," he said.

He highlighted that he constantly hears his female clients asking if they can shape their bodies like a particular celebrity or fitness influencer.

"Most of the time, such goals are impossible to achieve and may not even be healthy. This creates a lot of frustration and desperation to try quick-fix programmes, which in turn creates long-term health problems," he stated.