It often feels like our looks should be our only concern. To achieve the rather impossible standards set for us, it would we require our full attention. Everywhere I look there's something about someway to change or "improve" our appearance. I am sick and tired of it. Especially since most of the attack is sent at moms. (Happy Freakin' Mother's Day) At a local Women's Expo one of the speaker's is a plastic surgeon talking about "Mommy Makeovers". You had children? Well, let us help you look less disgusting, with luck perhaps you can even pretend that mess never happened to you. :)
My body has performed miracles, not that prepubescent stick figure this sick county reveres.
Also while I am nearly three sizes smaller than I was pre-pregnancy, I'm still curvy so it doesn't matter. I'm sure those muggle nutters would be more than happy to take care of my "mom tummy".
All women within the sound of my blog, please love yourselves enough the way you are, to put a stop to all this madness. Stop letting women be ripped apart. Embrace what's real and good in all of us. We have far better things to put our minds and energy into than the size of our waists.
I suggest we could all learn an important lesson from Connie Culp. Her husband shot her in the face 5 years ago. Recently she underwent face transplant surgery. She says: "I was worried about my weight and everything," she said of her life before the shooting, lamenting how foolish that seems now. "You're always going to worry about something, you know, your waist, your weight ... your hair. It's so funny."
Now she's just grateful to have a face and a nose. I found her refreshing and admirable. She's also taking the time to speak out about domestic violence. A topic I care greatly about. To learn more about her please visit these links:
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodNews/Story?id=7535591&page=1
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=7536175
To learn more about Domestic Violence please visit:
http://www.ncadv.org/
http://www.justicewomen.com/cj_whydoesntsheleave.html
http://www.newsweek.com/id/188353
http://alisaterry.blogspot.com/2009/03/how-society-supports-abuse-and-abusers.html
Lest you feel that there is a disconnect between the beginning and the end of my post, keep in mind that all of this talk that degrades and demeans women lowers their self worth and is really just a form of societal abuse. A women with low self worth is lot more willing to take abuse, especially from loved ones. (Yes, I know that abuse can be perpetuated by both genders and no one deserves to live that way. The sad truth is that only the "lucky" ones do live.)
We must stand up, speak out, and do better.
3 comments:
I am a huge fan of women believing in and being comfortable with their bodies. There are many forms of worship--and worshipping a perfect (non-existent) body falls into that category. There's an article called "Take, Eat" which is such a beautiful explanation of how many of us sacrifice our bodies for our children--in more ways than the 9 mos. prior to birth. I love it--and, after reading it, have also come to accept, (still working on the loving part), my post-pregnancy form. Here's the link:
http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/byustudies&CISOPTR=2484&CISOSHOW=2468
Thank you, thank you! This is so refreshing to hear. I have these "Ugly" days where I wonder if maybe I'm not pampering myself enough. Like, maybe I need to use a better lotion, lose 5 lbs, get my brows plucked, buy a nicer shampoo, shave my legs, or paint my nails.
Thats the marketing industry in the back of my head telling me i need some product to improve myself....But then I always feel so beautiful when I am out in nature with nothing but me and my kids.
Thanks Sea Gal--I was hoping you'd write something about what we saw at the EXPO. It is so pervasive and damaging. And I really do believe that the most beautiful women are the ones who love themselves and are confident in who they are. I feel like there should be something more that we can do to stand up for women and end the destructive forces of unrealistic and unhealthy expectations.
Post a Comment