06 February, 2013

Naked.

The other day I came across a blog post by a woman with an eight month old. Her post was titled "Chasing Pretty" or something similar to that, and wrote about how since having her baby eight months ago, she sacrificed many things, and her body, her beauty was one of those things. She then preceded to link five big bloggers whose bodies bounced back in a miraculous way, very shortly after birth. She finished off her post with a paragraph summing up that she hadn't painted her nails in eight months, she hates bare nails, and was going to try and feel better by shaving her legs. Oh and included a picture from Pinterest of a woman with a naked (no makeup) face and said she has always loved this look.

I wanted to scream. I want to scream. It made me sad. All too many women use blogs and other social media outlets to break themselves down, to dissect their "imperfections". It twisted my stomach a bit when some of the bloggers she had linked in her post, had retweeted her on twitter, and instead of building her up as a beautiful, new mother, talked about their own detest for their bodies, which I'm sure didn't mean to come across as baiting for compliments, but it did. I am not trying to be negative and gossip or judge, it's just...this woman, how much hurt she must have inside. How much MISUNDERSTANDING of herself she must have. She didn't sacrifice her beauty, she enhanced it. In my opinion, being selfless and full of love is the most beautiful thing about a person.

The picture above was taken yesterday afternoon. I have stretch marks, I feel like I am the size of a humpback whale at the moment, I don't remember the last time I shaved my legs on a regular basis, and so on and so on. I personally don't wear makeup, I think it makes me look like a clown. I quit dying my hair in July, I want my body in the most natural state it can be in. Minus shaving...I can't do the natural arm pits thing, if you can, more power to you! And when I am not too big to bend over comfortably in the shower, I will shave my legs more regularly, but...I am losing a bit of what I was wanting to say, or having a hard time wording it properly...What I am trying to say is, material things, what cosmetic products you have access to, what clothes you can fit into, what you wear today, does not make you beautiful, or pretty. It never has, and it never will.

My brain is kind of bouncing all over the place, but I want to get this out there.

If you read all of this, I want to ask you to do the following:
1. Love yourself. Who you are. What body you are in.
2. When you encounter a woman beating herself down, please bring her up. We've all needed it at one point or another, and this blogging community shouldn't be equivalent to a high school popularity contest.
3. If you blog, tweet, facebook, instagram, use any type of social media account, post a picture of yourself, naked faced and feel empowered. You shouldn't hide in your beautiful, beautiful skin. Only you have your body, only you are you, and embrace it. Don't cheat yourself by comparing to others who appear to have more.

4 comments:

  1. Great post Corrine!
    I see so many women only feeling good when they have their make up on. It's sad! I can see how beautiful you are! It's this kind of beauty that's coming from the inside. You are feeling good with yourself, you are a happy person and this makes your eyes shine and makes you smile without an effort! Now THIS is what I call beauty!

    ReplyDelete
  2. LOVE this post Corrine!

    I am definitely going to be sharing it on my weekly links :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is a really wonderful post. Very needed. For women everywhere.

    ReplyDelete