Love Your Body! This is a long one!

Working in the beauty industry can take its toll on a person's perception of beauty as well as their self esteem.  Media throws at us, from every angle, the idea of what a perfect face and body should be.  If I am a grown woman and still fall prey to these distorted examples of perfection, imagine what the pre teen girl is experiencing.  An overwhelming demand for perfection.  If she is perfect in every way, shape and form then and only then will she be happy.  I see amazing, beautiful women of all ages in my chair and they can point out every imperfection on them in as little as two minutes....yet when I ask what they feel is their best feature, I sit for several minutes awaiting an answer that they themselves are not sure of.
When will we learn to reject the media's example of perfection and realize that each and every one of us is true perfection.  We are the only one of us...therefore we are a perfect example of our self.

Ask any supermodel and I bet she will have several flaws to tell you about.  Cindy Crawford has even said she doesn't look like Cindy Crawford when she wakes up in the morning.

I bring up this topic for many reasons, the first being my 10 year old daughter and hearing her already begin to attack herself.  When she was 5 and if I asked her what she thought of herself, she would have been quick to tell me how amazing and beautiful she is...how does all this change in as little as 5 years? 
Simply because children are now getting tv shows aimed at them that feature these beautiful young girls, wearing amazing clothes and makeup all at the ripe old age of 14...aka..Miley Cyrus..Selena Gomez..etc
Disney channel when I was a kid was filled with cartoons, not unrealistic examples of preteen girls.
The second reason is due to my own battles with weight and self esteem.  I have been many shapes and sizes it seems, and I have a hard time giving myself a break.  I aspire for the perfect body, face and everything else I can do to reflect this image of perfect....and quite frankly it is exhausting!
I know this is not healthy..and my daughter is witness to this as well and she is learning this behavior.
So to help me and every other beautiful, extraordinary woman/girl of all ages I am going to show the reality of media and what I really think is beautiful. 

These are some of the real women for the Dove "Campaign for Real Beauty".     These women do not have six pack abs or perfectly sculpted arms..but they are just about what my friends and I all look like should we fill in for this shoot.

 These gals...well god bless em...are Victoria's Secret models (love your bra's Vicki!) who have posed for this "Love your Body" ad.. Sure there are several fine examples there of bodies to love...but when I look around my circle of friends and family..I may be able to point out 1 who could stand in on this poster..




Don't get me wrong, I am not saying these women are evil, ugly, horrible or anything of the sort...and I am not some hairy beast trapped in a basement somewhere looking to belittle supermodels to make myself feel better.  I am just hoping to help my fellow women see the difference and possibly make a difference in their lives and the ones they love.

On October 23rd, 2010 it is Love Your Body Day.  The guest speaker for this years event is season 10 America's Next Top Model Winner Whitney Thompson..she has posed for an amazing ad with Love Your Body Day event creator Chenese Lewis.  If we can take time on the 23rd to compliment and acknowledge our own individual beauty as well as those we love, that would be an amazing way to celebrate the day.

Something I have to mention here is that Whitney is a plus size model in the fashion industry.  Whitney is 5'10 and weighs 165 and wears size 12.  Hard to believe that is considered plus size when every time I go to the clothing store all the 10/12/14 sizes are gone.  Seems to me that we are a world full of plus sized super models...hey I will take that any day!

Finally, I had to ad this video, it is from Dove's campaign again.  I am fully aware of what goes on behind the scenes in the fashion/modeling industry.  Most of the women/young girls are not. You see an amazing beauty on the billboard or in the pages of a magazine and think....wow..how come I don't look like that.  Well take a look, neither does she...

Evolution of a Model