Snow White was beautiful, because she was pale. PALE! Ten
percent of Americans spend on average $300 per year to tan indoors. That's
roughly $9,417,421,200
spent annually on tanning alone in the United States by my own
calculations. And Snow White (yes, fictional, but historically pale was
pretty) was beautiful. Y'all, I guess this means beauty is in the eye
of the beholder. Or even in the eyes of culture.
Body Image and perceived beauty is something no woman will ever escape. We're
shot at left and right with images of women that have the bookoos
of bucks that it takes to pay for a personal trainer, make-up
artist, hair stylist, chef, small army of beauty. It's their job to
be beautiful, and we're expected to keep up.
And then there was Pinterest. On top of it all, Pinterest is telling us,
"Look how easy it is! Just do 700 pushups, 1,000 crunches, and
10,000 jumping jacks before every shower, and wake-up four hours early to
chop and bag some really cheap berries, melon and lean fish to
create perfect portions to take to work, and y
ou'll be a swimsuit
model by Friday. Oh, and make this cookie, brownie, Oreo creation for your
friends tonight, but don’t you dare taste it. AND don’t forget to plan the
perfect party outfit for that bridal shower you planned that you should make
these individual goodie bags for with hand-sewn, chevron cardigans in each."
Puh-lease.
It doesn't work...I've tried it. :) You will crash and
burn. Don't judge.
4 out of 4 girls will tell you that when they walk into a room they check out
the girls first. Size up the competition, I guess. We like to
see what we're up against. What everyone else is comparing us to.
4 out of 4 girls will also tell you that they worry more about what
the girls in the room are saying or thinking about them than the
boys. (P.S. I made those stats up, but it’s true. Just ask 4 women.) It’s
like not only do we see our own mirror, but we want to look at others as for
our mirror. We want to see ourselves like Ashley with perfect hair, Bethany
with the perfect make-up and complexion, and Jennifer with the awesome body.
We've all heard that advice before: Everyone
us made differently. You're beautiful the way God made you. You
were made in the image of God. It's a slap in the face to God's creation.
Your body is a temple, treasure it.
All these things are true. I'm not saying otherwise at
all, but do they really help us feel better? Do they really put you
at peace? If I'm being honest, the answer is no.
How do we get to that point when we look at ourselves and can
say, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, in the trap of body image misconceptions I
will not fall”?
At age 23, I look back at my 17-year-old self, and wish I could
tell her a few things. And one of
them is that I’m glad you looked so darn cute in that outfit for that photo,
but I wish you had spent your time and thoughts a little more responsibly. And
I’m positive that when I’m 50, I’ll still have more to say to my younger
self. That’s just because this isn’t
going away. The fact of the matter is I can’t tell my 17-year-old self that
when you’re 23 you’ll be perfectly satisfied with your body and how you
look. Because that would be a lie.
Luckily what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. After a very awkward Easter where the
Easter bunny put protein powder in my basket in hopes of me gaining weight
after a stage of extreme under eating, I decided I needed to get some things
right.
TO BE CONTINUED…
