‘Idir Anam is Corp’

Coliaste Cois Life former student Síomha Ni Ruairc breaks the silence about social expectations of women’s image and body in her documentary ‘Idir Anam is Corp’, broadcasted on TG4 channel, on May 3, reports Sihame Saady.

The one who dreamed of the blonde hair of the Disney princess Sleeping Beauty at the age of six, broaches the way our image is constructed through society over the ages, through social media and shines a light on the lack of diversity and representation on television.

Síomha told to The Echo about her body acceptance, mindset change, body positivism, and gives some advice for new generations.

You said in the documentary that “Now at almost 30 years old, I’m much kinder to myself and my body”. Did you feel at any point that you had lost your true self in your early 20s?

Definitely. I’ve always been very insecure as a teenager, it’s an awkward age for everybody.

Once I turned twentyish, had a part time job and more disposable income, I used to make myself look how I wanted to look.

But it was a façade. It didn’t make me happier or reflect who I truly was.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with wearing makeup, with doing your hair, I love doing that.

But now looking back on those photos, I much preferred how I look now, which is a little bit more natural, my natural hair colour.

And because I know that I’m not putting that kind of pressure on myself.

As a presenter, you are in a profession where appearance is very important. Doesn’t your current struggle sound like a certain paradox?

Absolutely. I have this internal struggle with myself sometimes; should I be doing presenting? Because I am exposing myself to more judgement or criticism of my looks.

I have asked myself this very same question.

While I understand there might be a bit of dissonance there in me saying I don’t want to put value on my looks, but I’m choosing a profession which does put value on my looks.

I enjoy presenting and I like to think that my presenting is more because of my personality and how I interact with people.

I’m good at it. So, I want to keep doing something that I’m good at and that makes me feel good.

What do you think about the new wave of body positivism on social media? You have participated in it with the announcement of not wanting to shave your underarms anymore.

There is a need for people to understand that flaws are normal no matter what your body.

We need to leave space on social media for those who actually are discriminated against because of their body size.

I did participate in this by sharing that I had stopped shaving my underarms.

As a straight sized white woman, it’s easier for me to do that because I have a body that fits more to beauty standards.

If you see someone with their body hair grown out, with the different size body, I just think any bit of diversity that we see in our social media feeds, it’s very positive.

I think it’s better that people are seeing, flaws and variety and not just the same filtered perfect pictures.

I saw a girl in the documentary talking about freckles. Many people were ashamed of it for a while. Now it’s a fashion trend. Do you think fashion can help with body acceptance?

I don’t think that physical traits should be fashion trends. We’ve seen this with body sizes as well, how ideal body size has changed within recent years.

It used to be no curves, no big bums and now with the rise of the Kardashians we see it as fashionable.

The dangerous thing about that is when it goes out of fashion, what do you do then and how do you feel about yourself?

So, I would be worried about seeing these things being accepted as trends.

If it makes you embrace yourself because you see more of yourself in the media, you’re going to feel good about yourself. But I just think it’s a fickle thing to depend on because trends come and go.

There is a lot of talk about sport as a healthy solution to body maintenance. Isn’t there a cult of healthy fashion that can be just as harmful as the cult of appearance?

Definitely. I absolutely agree that movement for your body makes you feel good and it’s good for your body.

But once you start doing it for physical goal, because it appears to be healthy, or for other wrong reasons, it’s not good for you.

There’s pressure from all angles: if you’re not doing any exercise and if you’re doing too much exercise.

It’s just another thing that we’re judged for and that we’re under pressure to either perform in or over perform in.

When I was in my early 20s, I went to the gym just to lose weight. Now when I exercise, I do it to feel good.

For the end goal of feeling better but not looking better because you’re just putting too much pressure on yourself.

What advice would you give to young girls all women and even boys, to those who try to conform to the current diktats and standards of beauty?

First, I’d say, don’t judge yourself for trying to conform because it’s a very normal thing to want to make yourself more valuable in this society.

Don’t be too hard on yourself. A

nd the second thing is watch how you speak to yourself because if you’re thinking negatively about yourself, that will impact how you feel and that will impact how you behave.

Catch those negative thoughts when they happen and find a friend to talk to. Let’s speak to each other.

Will there be more episodes in the documentary?

No, it’s just one documentary. There were two other documentaries created in the same line and that was one by Gráinne Seoige about the menopause and one by Mary Kennedy about growing older and body image made by the same production company, TG4 bout women, women’s issues with their bodies but at different stages of their lives.