Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall

When you look in the mirror what do you see? I see the imperfections on my face, that I know will leave behind scars if picked at. I see the weight that i’ve gained, with the “tiger strips” resting on my love handles. I see how broad my shoulders are compared to my friends and i immediately grab a black shirt from my closet to try to hide my body.

But why do I feel that way? Why do I look in the mirror and have to feel like i’m not good enough, or I don’t fit the standard?

The standard. Have you ever wondered who says what the standard is? You know it’s different in every country? So in reality you’ll never be perfect. Harsh i know, but i tell you this because i’m telling you to bump the standards of beauty. They are unrealistic, unattainable, and just flat out mean.

The beauty standard tells you that you have to have big lips but not to big. Be curvy and voluptuous but only in the right areas such as your hips and bottom. Have a natural look but your natural must be flawless, usually barely attainable by using make-up. When it comes to standards women usually spend 90 percent of their time trying to reach that standard when they never will.  It is something we should stop trying to embrace. Stop trying to be what others want us to be and start being and doing things for us. If you are working out to lose weight then do it for yourself. When you finally perfect that winged eyeliner and you are working it, make sure you are doing that for yourself! You do not have to be what the world tells you  to be.

The world treat women’s beauty standards like an object that one must buy into, literally and figuratively. Take a stand against these labels that society has placed upon women and embrace one another. give compliments, lift one another up, and most importantly we must love one anothers differences. 

They say life is what you make it, but so is beauty. Be your own kind of beautiful. Embrace your intelligence, your health, your potential, define your own standard of beauty. By doing all of these things you will by default become even more beautiful than you already are.

“Her beauty cannot be measured with standards of a colonized mind.” -Meshell Ndegeocello

-E

• beautiful
• know your worth