Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Would You Say That Too..

Today I was watching an interview where the actress had been given a bad review for her physically messy appearance in a movie. When faced with the person who had written the article, she asked him about this scenario: "If your daughter one day comes home from an interview and was told that they wouldn't hire her because she was not attractive enough, would you say 'oh that makes sense?'" Upon hearing this the author was appalled and proclaimed that he would never say that! The actress looked at him and said, 'just remember that when you write a bad review because of a woman's appearance in a movie, you are also tearing down girls who are reading it'... I think we just get into the habit of tearing people down and we need to build them up."

While the words may not be exactly what she said, Melissa McCarthy had a very good point. In today's society, women are still judged by their appearance; for all that we advertise and promote beauty within. There are still people, child or adult, who say negative things about woman's appearances, wittingly or not.

Celebrities do take a hard hit with this. One artist, a Mrs. Kelly Clarkson, has been on the brunt end of a lot of negativity with her weight gain after having her baby girl. Her response in an interview to the criticism is also encouraging. "I think what hurts my feelings for people is that I'll have a meet and greet after the show and a girl who's like bigger than me will be in the meet and greet and be like, 'Wow, if they think you're big I must be so fat to them.' You're just who you are. We are who we are-whatever size."

Both Melissa and Kelly are brilliant in their opinions when it comes to body images. I'll be honest. I've struggled with my body image for a good chunk of my life, still do in fact. This is made all the more fun now that I am pregnant and starting to show. It's hard to change your perception of your body when, for so long, you thought a certain way; and society encourages it to a large extent. But now I have more incentive to work on changing how I think. Now, I turn sideways when I'm in the washroom and I look in the mirror and I smile because my shirt is no longer able to hide my growing stomach. Rather than fluffing out my shirt so it drapes nicer, I'm pulling it in tighter to see how much my kid has grown since last week.

It does help that I have fantastic men in my life who, rather than criticize me for my size, are constantly telling me how beautiful I am. If you are a woman and there is a man who is telling you otherwise then ditch him! My father called me, and still does, gorgeous all my life. It was his nickname for me. I used to roll my eyes and say that he was supposed to think I was because I was his daughter. He would smile and say "that doesn't make it any less true." My husband is also quick to call me beautiful and affirm me whenever I complain about my looks. He actually gets exasperated with me if I argue with him! So, while I know that beauty is self confidence in yourself, words do carry a lot of weight!

So, I challenge you with the same thought that Melissa had. Before you speak negatively about a woman, or even yourself, think about your future or current daughter... would you say that negative thing to her? Would you want her to feel that way? Let's be comfortable as we are, no matter appearances or size. Let's look in the mirror and at each other and say "you are beautifully gorgeous"... and mean it.


2 comments:

  1. Good and positive thinking. You are you because God made you that way and He always does good and loves you.
    I love you too and always thought you cute to beautiful.

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  2. Just reading your blog and so proud of the woman you have become!

    Love you Gorgeous!
    Dad

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