Every time I page through a magazine I rarely see pictures of women that are neither skinny nor fat. The only time I spot real women is when there is an article for which they have actually chosen real readers for some sort of makeover or when they are trying to prove some point about real women. All the professional pictures and advertisements use women that are incredibly skinny. And this, ladies and gentlemen, I find to be the sole reason why every female has an issue about her image.
It may be your legs, you stomach, your boobs, you butt, your arms or even your toes (I have to admit to even having a complex about my chubby fingers.) Every girl, and I say girl because I am not too sure about they guys, has some issue with her body. These are issues that we will always have despite the fact that others may assure us that our complex’s are completely ridiculous.
The truth is that every single person in the world is different and that is a beautiful gift that each and every one of us has been given. The gift of individuality. So why do we all want to look the same?
I know I do, when I see those models in the magazines or the actresses on television I want to look just like them. I want legs like theirs and a defined stomach like theirs, but the truth of the matter is that I will never look like them. Even if I lost all the weight that was possible and this is because I am not them. I never will be either. I have my own body, which I should be grateful for; I shouldn’t slate myself everyday because I don’t look like some stereotype. Who wants to be a stereotype? What I should want to be is, different, which I am and., which each and every one of us are.
We are real women, and just like every thing in life, we are not perfect and to be honest, there is no perfect body either. We may think that the girl who is so tall that her head seems as if it is in the clouds with legs like ripple free tributaries leading into the fabulous river that is her flawless, flabless figure is perfect, but who is the judge of what is perfect anyway?
No one can really afford to be the judges since no one is perfect themselves. Who is saying that women with a little curve on the hip and a little flab on the stomach aren’t perfect? We are the only people that can be the judge of ourselves. If we love ourselves and accept our figure and embrace it like it deserves to be embraced then, (and it is a fact) people will start to embrace our figure as well. Confidence is key. It really is. I will admit that confidence is not my strong point. Actually it is probably one of my weakest aspects but I am going to work on my confidence and with summer coming around what better time is there?
Looking at the pictures of models on the runway just makes me sick and incredibly sad for these women. Their knees are the widest section of their entire leg and yet they are being paid to look like this. When I see them I want to shove food down their throat and send them into counseling as these girls must have established some serious issues in their career especially if they are willing to continue living and working like this.
Marilyn Monroe is a woman that everyone knows; she is a woman that is known for being one of the sexiest women in the world. If you look at Marilyn the girls got curves and she loves them! Just because we may not fit into some typical idealized figure does not mean that there is anything wrong with us.
I will admit that I am afraid that by not fitting in to some mold I will not be accepted. That guys wont find me pretty, that people may look upon me and feel sorry for me because I don’t have the desired figure, but if I really think about it, the only person who’s judgment I should worry about is my own judgment of myself. If I love myself others will love me too and if they don’t, then sorry for them.
I’ll be honest in saying that I have been a perpetrator of immediate hatred in the past. If I see a girl in the mall with perfect legs or simply a figure I could only dream for then I immediately hate her and concoct this idea in my mind that she, although perfectly gifted in figure is actually lacking many brain cells and is hated by everyone because she is such a horrible person. Dare I meet one of these girls and find out that this is untrue.
I am one of five granddaughters. The middle in the family and perfectly ordinary. My oldest cousin Lauren is the girl that you do not want to get caught sitting next to on the beach. Her figure is flawless. I am not lying when I say that she has absolutely no extra fat and when she walks or even runs, nothing moves, she even has boobs to fill a bikini and she is one of the cleverest people that I know. Strangely enough she has a complex because she finds her figure too boyish and hates her lack of a small waistline. The next cousin is Paige. Paige is curvier than her older sister Lauren, but her physique is still one that’s enviable along with her personality and honest attitude. I know that no matter how much weight I lose I could never have her skinny legs or her flat stomach or even her tiny arms. The youngest cousin is Kirsten; she is an established horseback rider and ballet dancer. Need I say more about that physique? Jaide, her older sister is an established swimmer and hockey player without an ounce of extra weight either. She is 3 years younger than me, going through puberty and still has bigger boobs than I. And then there is me. From seven years old I was the podger of the family. The cousin that always carried a little extra and as I got older that extra amount merely increased. At the age of 12 I decided no more. I was no longer going to be the fat cousin and that day I went on a diet and 6 months later I was 17kg’s lighter. I became fit and skinny. This however was before puberty had hit me and when it did it hit my hips. I have a curvy figure, small boobs, and a fairly flat stomach but get me seated and you will see a roll or two and thighs that belong to a real woman. I see them as looking like I permanently have jockey pants on. The ones that gets wider on each hip. I have come to realize that try as I might I will never have the figure like the models in the magazines or even like my cousins, not because there is anything wrong with me but because I am different and it is great to be different.
So my goal is to learn to love my flaws and myself and embrace the figure I have. If you have read this I challenge you to do the same and together maybe we can get the word across to all women that being different is something to be celebrated and that perfect is non existent, merely a figment of our imagination.
