BE-YOU-TIFUL
When you think of the word beautiful, what do you think of? Is it an individual who is lean and fit, with straight hair, perfect skin, or colored eyes? What about the people who don’t exactly meet those requirements? Are they not beautiful? How did you even get this image of beauty in your head? Was it society? Ok… Ok… Ok… I’m done with all the questions. Nevertheless, I hope that made you think and realize how much of an impact society and the media have on our lives and thought processes.
There should never be a day that you look in the mirror and hate yourself because you don’t look like the people in the magazines. Those people don’t even look like that in real life. They are being digitally altered to appear “Perfect.” Those people may be starving themselves or taking other dangerous precautions to keep up. Therefore, you should never base the way you look and feel off of the models and what you see in the media. As long as you look and feel beautiful, that’s all that matters.
It is beautiful to have short curly hair, long wavy hair, braids, dreads. It is beautiful to have brown, blue, green, hazel, grey eyes. Those acne bumps and scars you’ve been trying to hide? Yeah, those are also beautiful, because they are apart of life. Being skinny or chunky is beautiful too. Flaunt what your mama gave you and always take pride in it.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m all about self love/loving the skin you're in no matter what, but we must also consider health. It’s more than fine to be superskinny or a little chunky. But it is not okay to be anorexic or obese. This could negatively affect your body’s health. It's okay to want to get in shape, but it should be done in a healthy way. You should not be taking/doing things that may not be genuinely good for you.
There should never be a day that you look in the mirror and hate yourself because you don’t look like the people in the magazines. Those people don’t even look like that in real life. They are being digitally altered to appear “Perfect.” Those people may be starving themselves or taking other dangerous precautions to keep up. Therefore, you should never base the way you look and feel off of the models and what you see in the media. As long as you look and feel beautiful, that’s all that matters.
It is beautiful to have short curly hair, long wavy hair, braids, dreads. It is beautiful to have brown, blue, green, hazel, grey eyes. Those acne bumps and scars you’ve been trying to hide? Yeah, those are also beautiful, because they are apart of life. Being skinny or chunky is beautiful too. Flaunt what your mama gave you and always take pride in it.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m all about self love/loving the skin you're in no matter what, but we must also consider health. It’s more than fine to be superskinny or a little chunky. But it is not okay to be anorexic or obese. This could negatively affect your body’s health. It's okay to want to get in shape, but it should be done in a healthy way. You should not be taking/doing things that may not be genuinely good for you.
Why This Matters To Me?Photography by Mariah Texidore I am being a hypocrite, sort of, because once I started high school, I started caring about what I looked like and how people perceived me. The big thing in the urban world is to have a big butt, big breasts, small waist and long hair. I watched people on instagram and other websites have plastic surgery done to get the “ideal” body. I also saw women get 24-inch weaves from countries they’ll probably never visit. All of this did nothing but intrigue me more. I swore I had to look like that if I ever wanted someone to like me. Thank God one day I woke up from that nightmare. I realized if a man can’t love me the way I am he doesn’t deserve to be in my life, period.
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The Statistics!-An estimated 10-15% of people with anorexia or bulimia are male.
Photography by Mariah Texidore
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Everywhere you look there are people hating, talking junk, and discriminating, but there are also people who are accepting, supporting, and empowering others. I don’t know about you but I think all those negative folks could take a seat. Furthermore, there are people who are taking a stand against society. They are letting the world know that we are all different and unique and it’s a beautiful thing. Being yourself, an original, is always worth more than a copy; therefore, I found three digital justice programs that stood for these ideals.
A Pinterest site titled “Beauty Comes in ALL Shapes and Sizes” is a board on Pinterest which is dedicated to posting inspirational quotes and photos of people of all shapes and sizes and promotes confidence. As soon as you visit the site, you feel a sense of courage throughout the page. There are men and women and even children of all shapes, sizes, and ethnicity embracing their curves no matter how much they weigh. Some of the images used throughout this site are of celebrities and some are of regular people who are all embracing themselves, trying to raise awareness and promote self love. The website's audience is anyone who may need a reminder of just how beautiful and valued they are, no matter their difference. The actual rhetor and creator of this site is a young woman who has several boards on her Pinterst that interest her. None of her boards necessarily relate , therefore she isn't an actual expert on the topic; shes just a woman who sees what's going on in the world and wants people to know "We are ALL beautiful!" My second program is a YouTube channel called “Media Effects on Body Image, Self Esteem and Beauty Ideals”. This YouTube channel has a compilation of 38 videos. Each video is either a documentary or a personal video showing the effects of society’s body imaging on people and most importantly our youth. The administrator of this YouTube account may not necessarily be a professional researcher on this topic but this rhetor is definitely well informed just with these videos alone. The purpose of this site is to raise awareness about how society and media are portraying this image of what "perfect beauty" is; meanwhile, not many people in the real world actually look like this. Why is that? Because, those "perfect people" are actually being digitally transformed to look like that. Nevertheless these videos are easy to find and are being viewed by thousands of people everyday. My last digital justice program was the “Dove Campaign for REAL Beauty and Self-Esteem Fund.” Their vision is: “Dove has a vision of a world where beauty is a source of confidence and not anxiety. Join the conversation to support positive self-esteem." The Dove website offers a place where women and young girls can go to get support and advice on how to live a healthy and happy life in the skin their in. The Dove company is a well known product within the home. The brand is a trusted product for their soaps and other body products. Therefore, when people see this campaign they are more willing to be a part of it because they already have an affiliation with their products. |
A Woman Who Decided She Had to Love Herself First!
The Hilarious & Fabulous Monique
Everyone knows comedian Monique as the funny woman who always made jokes about herself. The fame never got the best of her, because she would let you know in a heartbeat they every jelly role or bit of cellulite was what made her who she was. You would think she was the spokeswoman for the big girls and she was proud of it.
Until one day, Monique realized that she had beautiful children she had to look after. Being a mother, all you want is to see your kids grow up. Monique realized she may not live to see her kids grow up if she didn't change her ways. Monique vowed to make a lifestyle change filled with exercise and healthy eating. No matter how hard she works she says she will always be a big girl but plans to be a healthy one who will love for many years to come without the fear of high cholesterol, diabetes, heart issues, or anything else. |
If there ever comes a day where you don’t feel confident in your skin, always remember there is someone out there who is willing to talk and help you out. Not everyone is mean and negative. Always remember that you are beautiful no matter what skin color, hair type, eye color, body shape, etc you may be. Lastly, never change for anyone but for yourself. Self-love is the best love. Next time a hater has something to say, tell them: “I woke Up Like DIS”