I'm not sure if the Universe wanted me to be having this experiment at this exact time, but it seems like there are so many things I'm noticing related to beauty and what we as women tell ourselves about beauty. Yesterday on a national morning news program, the co-host commented that she was afraid to get married because she didn't want to fail. She and the other co-host were joking about why she hadn't 'tied the knot' yet. She said she didn't want to fail and that she was afraid that if she got married and (gesturing with her hand around her face) if this all went away, she'd surely scare her new husband away. She was making an all too familiar joke with women regarding how they look without their makeup. My ears instantly perked up at what she was saying and how the men co-host was reacting. He laughed right along with her in her joke. Why do we instantly think that without our makeup, men would go 'running for the hills'?? Whatever happened to a great personality, intelligence and sense of humor being tops on the list???? Why, on national television, is a woman stating that the reason she is afraid to get married is because she doesn't want the future husband to see her without all her makeup???? It is so sad to see that even in this form of media, we are getting the message that to be beautiful, a women must be dressed a certain way, look a certain way and above all, wear makeup. This mindset is deeply ingrained in so many women across so many demographics...what can we do, as women, to stop the cycle????
A co-worker and I were looking at a very cute and stylish dress and she had nothing but negative things to say about her body and how she perceived it would look in the dress. She said her hips were too wide, her chest too flat....and finally I looked at her and said,..."now that you've been so negative about yourself this morning, how about you tell me FIVE positive things about your body that you love." Needless to say, she had a difficult time getting to five things. My heart broke because I know, personally, it is so much easier to focus on the things we hate about ourselves rather the things we find beautiful. When did we go from being 'beautiful princesses' at age 5 to negative self hating women at 25??? We need to change that little voice in our head and start looking for the beauty once again. We need to see that we are princesses and we are beautiful just the way we were created.
My reactions to going sans makeup have still been minimal at best. Not a single blink or double take. I'm beginning to feel more and more comfortable in my own natural skin. I'm no longer looking for the reactions, I'm challenging myself to become more attune to the women around me and what they need to hear. As women, we need to be uplifting to each other and take notice of too much negative self talk. We need to be each others cheerleaders!! My challenge to whomever is reading and keeping up with this blog, find 5 things daily about yourself that you love. Say these five things aloud, write them down and post them on your various mirrors and maybe, just maybe we can begin listening to the positive rather than the negative.
Remember, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so maybe we starting seeing OURSELVES as beautiful.
No comments:
Post a Comment