Inside a Moroccan Bath

Inside a Moroccan Bath is an article of an older woman, Hanan reminiscing her battle with body image, as she sits in a women's bathhouse in Morocco. She is shocked by the discovery that she is not completely at ease with the shape of her body.

Growing up, Hanan struggled with body image, because she was "too thin". Peers lead her to believe that she was too thin because she was told nearly every day. Friends and lovers would make degrading comments like, "Why are you so thin?" "Why don't you just eat some macaroni?"

"Being thin meant I was branded as sickly and physically weak, and so I was never encouraged in sports or picked for teams. Hanan had jealousy toward for the "ripe, round cheeks of the other girls, and their chubby arms and legs."

One boyfriend even said to her, "I know what your problem is. It's because you're thin. That's what's responsible for all your grief. This uncertainty. You have to put on weight. A few kilos you'll see, you'll be a different person."

No matter what Hannan ate, she could not gain weight because she was genetically thin. She claimed she did nothing to change her image until she saw a poster of Audrey Hepburn that stick in her mind. She felt she had come to take revenge on Bridget Bardot's curvy figure, with Audrey Hepburn's slim figure. Hanan felt she could relate to Hepburn because they were both misunderstood with slim bodies. Hanan followed everything Hepburn did in the media, and even copied the way she dressed and mimicked her personality traits. At last, she felt she could relate to someone, and she was comfortable in her own skin.

Fast forward to present, Hanan finds herself soaking in a public bathhouse in Morocco and she is ashamed of her figure again. She is instantly brought back to her negative self- image, and is ashamed to get dressed in front of the other full-figured, Moroccan women.

This article is examines the cross-cultural standards of beauty. In the US culture, especially Los Angeles, being thin is the holy grail of most people. We are constantly bombarded by media ads, magazines, and commercials about striving to be thin. In contrast, as Hanan viewed the plump women in the Moroccan baths, she felt uncomfortable because she was thin.  Now more comfortable in her body, she is still struck by the ancient standards of beauty and brought back to her once insecure teen self. In conclusion, the standards of beauty and body shape all root from cultural standards.

-Kelsey & Kirstin