What If We Just Stopped Fixing Ourselves?
Photo by Lawrence Krowdeed on Unsplash
I often find myself asking, especially in moments when I feel comfortable in my body, why, despite the general understanding and recognition that current and past body standards are unreasonable, do we continue to let them permeate the way we view and treat our bodies?
I’m currently writing this sitting on a beach in a bikini, which is arguably too small, having just eaten an ice cream, and taken pictures of the jewellery I make with my digital camera. In the background of these pictures, you can see my hips with their stretch marks and cellulite. I’m not uncomfortable with this, even though less than a year ago, I most definitely would have uploaded the picture to Facetune and proceeded to edit my body to unrecognizability. While I would like to say this is all due to personal growth and increased maturity, I can definitely acknowledge that part of the reason I am more comfortable in my skin is due to weight loss. However, I still don’t, despite being considered skinny, look like the women on Pinterest and Instagram.
As I’ve entered my 20s, it has become increasingly clear to me that the only people who care about how our bodies look are ourselves. No man I’ve ever been with has complained about my small boobs or my stomach rolls. Likewise, I have never cared how toned a man’s abs are. This may not seem like a profound realization or any new concept, but I would like to provide my perspective.
First of all, I looked in the mirror this morning at my cellulite, my unshaven bikini line and the ingrown hairs on my bottom and thought - “I look pretty today”. Why would I care that anybody would notice these imperfections, let alone give a fuck that I have them?
It’s simple.
“Each individual woman’s body demands to be accepted on its own terms.”
We are groomed by companies to believe that the way in which we exist naturally is Gross. We are conditioned to think that we need to invest in and purchase products that will remove those imperfections.
Now that being said, I still love makeup, I prefer to shave my armpits, and I like to avoid acne. However, I do not believe that these imperfections are disgusting or even undesirable. And I think that if we collectively choose to view these imperfections less as something that needs to be solved by a product and more as something that just kinda happens, the power will be taken away from companies that continue to tell women and men that there’s something about them they need to fix.
While it may sound sappy, your imperfections show your humanity. And choosing not to care what other people think about your body, choosing to accept what others may call disgusting or unhygienic, can be one of the most liberating things you can do for yourself.
