Can you count the number of times that someone has told you that you are beautiful? Quite a few, right? Now how many times have you told yourself that? Hmm, not that many, I’m guessing.
For most of us women, it really takes an effort to actually admit that we are beautiful. How can we, when we have those thunder thighs, or that huge butt right? It is so much easier to find stuff to hate about ourselves.
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My sister and I look very different – I’m short and she’s tall; she’s skinny and while I’m within a healthy weight for my height, I’m tipping towards the upper limit :-). Sometimes we joke that it would be great if we had some kind of a machine where I could transfer some weight to her!! But when you think about it, if we really had a machine like that, we would all look like clones of each other (our celebrities are already beginning to look like that). Scary thought, right?
In India, the obsession with being skinny is not as much as it is in the west, but it does exist and affects a lot of young girls with impressionable minds. The media, of course is everyone’s favorite punching bag when it comes to this issue, and it is true that it plays an important role. Movies, ads, magazines - everything sends out the message that you need to be tall, thin, have lustrous straight hair, blemish free skin, a sexy pout and curves in the right places. What are these ‘right’ places? Who said they were right in the first place?
This is where blogging plays a huge positive role. We have bloggers of all shapes and sizes and colors who belong to various nationalities/ethnicities/religions and they are all, beyond doubt, beautiful. The one common characteristic all of them share is self love and a wonderful confidence that actually comes through in their pictures. I admit, I’m still a work in progress and have yet to accept parts of my ‘mommy’ body, but these wonderful people really inspire me.
Speaking of self love, I love the song ‘Beautiful’ by Christina Aguilera and believe every girl should listen to it (Of course, there are hardly any who haven’t :-)). Here’s the youtube link:
Have you ever battled body image issues in your life? How did you deal with it?
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