She is so skinny. I would kill to have her body. If only I had her boobs, butt etc... Have you ever said this about someone else either celebrity or someone you know?
I know I have and I’m sure the women I have said this about have also said it about someone else. Our world has pushed what they want us to believe beauty, sexy and health is supposed to look like. In magazines, tv and social media it’s constantly pushed in our face. The social media ads are out of control and it makes me angry.
I would look in the mirror and think “damn I look good” and then I would see the ads and think oh I needed to work out more, eat more salads, work on my tan, let my hair grow out, get my eyebrows done etc to look “beautiful”. It was a fucked up mind game that never ended.
When I got pregnant I couldn’t wait to wear cute maternity clothes and dresses and embrace my growing belly and not worry about the beauty standards. Guess what… those ads, they changed to maternity and postpartum ads. Maternity spanx and postpartum workouts and belly bands “to get back to your pre-pregnancy” body. Like seriously! I just went 9 months of growing my baby and during that time I could barely find a maternity bra in my size because apparently maternity women are all under a DD size bra and why would I want to wear body shaping spanx and squish my growing belly during pregnancy? The expected standards are ABSURD and wildly inappropriate. The ads forced upon women that just had a baby to work out and wear belly bands or compression leggings are even more of a fucked up mind game. Making women who are on a hormonal roller coaster trying to navigate their new norm with their precious new baby and now they feel the pressure from marketing ads to start working out and get their “body” back like their body isn’t beautiful anymore.
Well I’m here to tell you forget all the bullshit marketing beauty industry standards. You are beautiful! Yes you, in your body no matter what phase of life you are in. Your body is worthy and should be loved and celebrated. Our bodies are magical and are designed to change and grow as our lives do. I can assure you, of all the bodies I have photographed, all of them are different in every way, shape, size, color and ability and each and everyone of them are perfectly beautiful.
If you have every experienced any of this, from feeling not good enough when seeing an ad about losing weight or wishing you looked like someone else. Then I want you to go look at yourself in the mirror and tell yourself that you love you and hug your body.
You are beautiful.
