Wear Your Scars And Stripes Proudly!
Today's world is obsessed with beautiful things. Beautiful beaches, filled with beautiful bodies, beautiful cities, filled with beautiful cars, houses and people.
I am not beautiful, certainly not by society's standards. I have some wrinkles, some extra weight, and more gray hair than I would like. I have scars from previous surgeries, and stretch marks from my pregnancies. I call them my scars and stripes.
I know women who obsess over 1 extra pound, a few gray hairs, and crows feet. I don't. What's the point? I look at the gray hair and crows feet as a rite of passage, a badge of honor, if you will.
Our outside beauty, is short lived. Our inward beauty, is forever.
Unfortunately, society puts undue pressure on women, especially. Women, are the worst, for judging other women by impossible standards. Models are airbrushed, before gracing the pages of a magazine. A computer program can rid someone of extra pounds, and wrinkles, and give you fuller hair and lips at the same time, with the flick of a mouse. God forbid, we see any imperfections.
Dove, did a campaign a few years back. Women sat in front of a forensic artist, without either one seeing the other. The woman had to describe her face to the artist. Then, someone else, would describe the same woman to the artist. The differences in the renditions were startling. http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=2&ved=0ahUKEwjyu9yJs_3PAhVFeD4KHdmyBdwQtwIILjAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fm.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DrrHoDJinMQI&usg=AFQjCNFh2ncb-hG1zu8gD7ZCPKUU892BuA&sig2=lp1xsmvKOmQ4pG7PzEYcpw
Beauty, is truly in the eyes of the beholder, and it depends on society standards. Our western culture, does not look at the women in the Mursi and Surma tribes in Ethiopia, who practice lip plating, a form of body modification, as beautiful, but they do.
Other forms of beauty, throughout the world, that we don't find appealing are the lotus feet in China. A practise where cotton strips are wound around a young girls feet to disfigure and cripple her feet permanently. How about the Kayan long necks in Thailand? We have seem them in The National Geographic, they are the ladies with multiple brass rings worn around their neck to lengthen it, and make them more attractive. There are many more bizarre beauty rituals in other countries, that we don't share. To them, they are considered beautiful.
So then, that begs the question, what is real beauty? It seems, Pythagorean, gave us more than a mathematical equation to study in high school. He gave us words like harmony and symmetry, both, are part of his theory of beauty. Meaning, beauty is all about symmetry and balance, and how they harmonize together.
I think, it all equates to genetics, either you are born with it, or, if you are like the rest of us and if you weren't, there's always Maybelline! My grandma used to say, "Let your inside reflect on your outside." She meant, if you are kind, loving, considerate and forgiving, it will reflect on your outside appearance. Afterall, that is what true beauty is all about.
I wear my scars and stripes proudly. They are a reminder of what I have endured, bringing new life into this world, as well as my own struggle to survive. My scars, and stretch marks, are a story of my life. I don't look at them as ugly, I look at them, and I realize, I am a warrior.
Wear your scars and stripes proudly! They are, what make up you!
I am not beautiful, certainly not by society's standards. I have some wrinkles, some extra weight, and more gray hair than I would like. I have scars from previous surgeries, and stretch marks from my pregnancies. I call them my scars and stripes.
I know women who obsess over 1 extra pound, a few gray hairs, and crows feet. I don't. What's the point? I look at the gray hair and crows feet as a rite of passage, a badge of honor, if you will.
Our outside beauty, is short lived. Our inward beauty, is forever.
Unfortunately, society puts undue pressure on women, especially. Women, are the worst, for judging other women by impossible standards. Models are airbrushed, before gracing the pages of a magazine. A computer program can rid someone of extra pounds, and wrinkles, and give you fuller hair and lips at the same time, with the flick of a mouse. God forbid, we see any imperfections.
Dove, did a campaign a few years back. Women sat in front of a forensic artist, without either one seeing the other. The woman had to describe her face to the artist. Then, someone else, would describe the same woman to the artist. The differences in the renditions were startling. http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=2&ved=0ahUKEwjyu9yJs_3PAhVFeD4KHdmyBdwQtwIILjAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fm.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DrrHoDJinMQI&usg=AFQjCNFh2ncb-hG1zu8gD7ZCPKUU892BuA&sig2=lp1xsmvKOmQ4pG7PzEYcpw
Beauty, is truly in the eyes of the beholder, and it depends on society standards. Our western culture, does not look at the women in the Mursi and Surma tribes in Ethiopia, who practice lip plating, a form of body modification, as beautiful, but they do.
Other forms of beauty, throughout the world, that we don't find appealing are the lotus feet in China. A practise where cotton strips are wound around a young girls feet to disfigure and cripple her feet permanently. How about the Kayan long necks in Thailand? We have seem them in The National Geographic, they are the ladies with multiple brass rings worn around their neck to lengthen it, and make them more attractive. There are many more bizarre beauty rituals in other countries, that we don't share. To them, they are considered beautiful.
So then, that begs the question, what is real beauty? It seems, Pythagorean, gave us more than a mathematical equation to study in high school. He gave us words like harmony and symmetry, both, are part of his theory of beauty. Meaning, beauty is all about symmetry and balance, and how they harmonize together.
I think, it all equates to genetics, either you are born with it, or, if you are like the rest of us and if you weren't, there's always Maybelline! My grandma used to say, "Let your inside reflect on your outside." She meant, if you are kind, loving, considerate and forgiving, it will reflect on your outside appearance. Afterall, that is what true beauty is all about.
I wear my scars and stripes proudly. They are a reminder of what I have endured, bringing new life into this world, as well as my own struggle to survive. My scars, and stretch marks, are a story of my life. I don't look at them as ugly, I look at them, and I realize, I am a warrior.
Wear your scars and stripes proudly! They are, what make up you!
Comments
Post a Comment