You Are Beautiful!

I recently came across an ad on Facebook that said, "Only 2% of women think of themselves as beautiful..." and this really hit me. The ad was for Dove's Self-Esteem campaign. Now, I have to admit, I am of the 98% of women in that poll. If you were to ask me to describe myself, "beautiful" would not be one of the adjectives to come to mind first. Now, I don't think I'm horrifying or anything, but I also don't see myself as "beautiful". There are many more adjectives that would fall before that. I am a mom, a sister, a girlfriend, a daughter, a best friend, a Filipina, athletic, optimistic, blessed, loving, caring, a Scorpio, a hard-worker, determined,.. and the list goes on and on before I even reach "beautiful".

I love Dove's Self-Esteem campaign. I love their goal and I love that they're targeting girls at a young age. In this day and age, the media has completely manipulated and obscured the idea of beauty. There are so many girls and women out there who are nearly killing themselves (literally) to fit society's image and mold of what beauty is. Since when did beauty mean you had to have every bone in your torso protrude from your skin, and for grown women to be a size 0? The average woman is naturally curvaceous. The average women has 'imperfections' that are really characteristics that help individualize who they are. You are not able to see every single bone stick out through the average woman's skin. The average woman should have a healthy shape and be a healthy and appropriate size for her stature. Unless you are naturally slender, a size 0 is not exactly healthy. The average woman, no matter the shape and size, is beautiful.

There are so many women and girls out there who go through leaps and bounds and such great lengths to try to fit into the mutated definition of "beautiful" media and society have portrayed for us. Now, I cannot say I am not a victim of this. I cannot say that I do not have any self-esteem or self-image issues. I too have self-esteem and self-image issues. I am not necessarily satisfied with what I see in the mirror. I cannot say I haven't tried a variety of unhealthy ways to obtain a more "beautiful" body. But, what I can say is that I have made improvements. I am on a healthier path of obtaining the image I seek. I know I will never ever be a size 0. It's physically impossible for me, but I do know that I can be healthier if I stay healthy. I only hope that the thousand upon thousands of girls and women out there get a hold of the Dove Self-Esteem campaign.

Another one of my favorite campaigns is Operation Beautiful. Check it out! Their idea is that if you place little random notes of kindness in random places, you may touch someone and put a smile on their face because you have made them feel beautiful. You should put up little posters and little sticky notes everywhere. You never know who you can help and who's lives you can touch by such a simple gesture. Tell a stranger they are beautiful (in a non-creepers way :P). Just say it aloud in passing somewhere. Who knows, you could make someones day and potentially change their lives forever. If we could all love ourselves and love each other (aka. not bagging on someone by their shape and size) the world would be a much better place. Women and girls (myself included) needs to find the beauty within ourselves and each other. We, like these campaigns, need to make strides to redefine what "beauty" really is.

I don't know about you, but I hope to have a daughter one day (at least one...). And, when I do have a daughter, I want her to grow up in a society that sees the beauty in all shapes and sizes. I want her knowing she's beautiful inside and out, and not just because her mommy says she is. I want her knowing that just being healthy is a beautiful thing. I want my daughter to describer herself as "beautiful".

Self-image and self-esteem problems are not only present in the female population; guys have these problems too. They may be a bit different than women's, but in essence, it's the exact same. Their issues may not be as apparent as women's but they are definitely there. So, look to your sons and other men in your life and tell them how handsome (and if appropriate, "sexy") they are. There are males out there who have eating disorders and go through cosmetic surgeries to look like the Calvin Klein models. Men, we don't need to see every muscle in your body defined. Men, not all of you are physically capable of looking like those models. As long as your are healthy for you, everything else will fall into place.

I know one day the definition of beauty will change back to the Marilyn Monroe days (she was a size 16, you know!). Those days where beauty came in all sizes. You may think I'm dreaming, but I really believe that this day will come. With campaigns like Dove and Operation Beautiful, I strongly believe that we will be healthier in years to come. So, for the upcoming generations, tell someone they are beautiful. Provide a healthy environment for their self-esteem to flourish. And, with HIS love, teach someone to love themselves.

What about you? Do you consider yourself as beautiful? Would you use it to describe yourself? Have you told someone they are beautiful today? What about yesterday? How about tomorrow?. What is your definition of beautiful? Is it a healthy one?

As for the musical fix for the day, this one is only fitting.

Thanks for listening!
...until next time...