This is one of those posts that I've had floating around my mind for so long but I could never find the right words to properly convey what I was thinking. Body image and body positivity are such hot topics lately, everyone's talking about fat/skinny shaming, the unrealistic body image the media portrays etc and I think it's great that we're all becoming much more aware of how we think about our own bodies.
"I hate my thighs", "I can't stand my love handles", "I wish I had a flatter tummy". I'm sure we've all said something along these lines more than once in our lives. If you're with your friends when you say it, then it usually turns into a big moan about all the things you all dislike about your appearance, not unlike that Mean Girls scene. But would you ever say " I love how my hair looks today", or "My bum looks amazing in these jeans"? Probably not, because you'd be labelled as full of yourself.
Isn't it crazy that trashing our bodies is the norm (and almost encouraged in a way), but giving ourselves a pat on the back is frowned upon?
Outfit details:
Playsuit & bag - Penneys / Sandals - Target / Sunglasses - Ray-Ban
As a teenager I had so many insecurities and looking back now I feel like slapping myself for being so hung up on the tiniest things. I used to get some stick for having a big forehead (something I'm still a little conscious of today but try to ignore), so I used to have a fringe and would never ever wear it up, ever. I thought I was fat, that my boobs were too small and would always say I wanted to get a boob job as soon as I was 18. I also couldn't stand how broad my shoulders were.
I think a lot of this came from the magazines I was reading, or the things I was seeing on the internet. It was almost cool to having this self loathing, body hating attitude which is so sad, and pretty much every single other girl
I knew acted the same way.
Now I'm coming up on 22 and the way I view myself and my body is very different (thank god). I obviously still have things I don't like, or things I'm self conscious of, but I don't hate my body and that's okay. It's okay to like the way you smile, or to admire how good your legs look in that skirt. It's okay to look at yourself as you walk past shop windows (we all do it, right?) and think 'Damn girl, you are looking fine today'.
Of course there are still days where I'm almost in tears trying to find something to wear that I don't feel 'fat' in, but we all have those days and they're okay too. Especially with being a blogger, I find myself being overly critical of the way I look in pictures, and there have been so many times where I haven't posted an outfit I've worn because I hated the way I looked.
While having bad body image days are fine and totally normal, it's just important to remember that while you may hate the tops of your arms, they're only a portion of your body and you can bet that no one else will focus in on just one part of you.
As I've grown up, I've also realised that the way I look is only a tiny part of who I am, which is another important point to note. The way you look and the size of the dress you wear doesn't define who you are. You could be the most beautiful woman in the world on the outside, but be a total cold hearted bitch on the inside with no friends and I don't know about you, but I'd much rather have a little pudgy belly and be proud of who I am as a person!
Social media can also play a big part in how we view our bodies. It's so easy to scroll through Instagram and compare ourselves to all of these beautiful women who have the most amazing skin and the slimmest, most toned figures and feel quite down about how we look.
The next time you catch yourself looking at someones picture and thinking "I wish my stomach was as toned as hers", or "Why can't my hair look like that", just remember that social media isn't real life, and for the most part is very edited. I'm sure if you saw that girl in her day to day life, she looks a lot different from the perfectly posed Insta pic you were beating yourself up over, which is totally fine too, no one can look picture perfect 24/7.
I guess what I'm trying to get at here is that it's okay to dislike things about the way you look and it's also okay to love things about the way you look, and if you can, try to focus more on the things you love than the things you don't.
We all need to be less harsh on ourselves and try to appreciate the positives, because at the end of the day, the thing you might hate the most about your body might be someone else's ideal. We also need to stop the whole 'openly hating on your body is cool' thing too because it's damaging, especially to younger girls growing up with that example.
Love yourself and be proud of it!
I really hope you enjoyed this post, and if you've got any thoughts or opinions on this topic, I'd love to hear them!