This post needs no introduction, don’t you think? There are a little over 3 more months left to the year, and wouldn’t 2011 be awesome if all our body image woes were put away? Here are some of my ideas of starting to love your body the way it is… please add your own, too!
Love your best feature. Instead of focusing on the body part you hate, why not emphasize the one that you love? If you hate your nose but love your lips, why not experiment with bright and bold lip colors to show them off? Same with your body – if you love one body part more than the rest, emphasize them and dress them up.
Ban all negative body talk. Make it a point to you and your group of friends to ban negative body talk – whether it’s complaining about your weight or gossiping about someone else – both are as horrible as each other and I recommend to stop it! Anytime you or someone else even starts, don’t worry about coming across rude – just tell them to stop.
Accept people of all sizes. I cannot begin to explain the disgust I felt when an ex-boyfriend made a comment about a larger girl. Thank heavens he’s long gone form my life. I’d suggest you don’t ever be as classless as that – never make comments about other people’s size! Just like eye colors and heights, people come in different shapes and sizes. Learn to accept it and stop judging others or yourself. If everyone looked the same this planet would be extremely boring, don’t you think?
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As much as Hollywood like to paint this picture of the perfect life (and face, which, as we’ve discussed, is not doing any good), it’s pretty darn obvious that a good percentage of them have gone under the knife. What is starting to show is that it’s not so much to turn back the clock – young women (who really don’t need it) are altering their looks drastically.
Ashley Tisdale, Ashlee Simpson, Megan Fox and Heidi Montag (who can forget her whooping 10 surgeries in one day?) have all altered their looks surgically, and they are all in their early twenties. It makes me wonder: is plastic surgery not so much wanting to look like you’re 21 again, but rather, wanting to look perfect?
What do you think of plastic surgery? As much as I would advise against it and rather practice self-acceptance and self-love, I’m nobodies’ mother – at the end of the day it’s your body and you should do what you want with it. At the same time, though, I feel that majority of those who seek the ‘absolute perfect’ versions of themselves need a psychiatrist rather than a surgeon. Personally I don’t think I’d ever do it, (willingly poking needles into my face? No thanks!) but I always proclaim, ‘never say never’ with everything because I know people change. However, I am quite sure I know myself enough to say that I would never go for plastic surgery.
What about you? Would you ever consider plastic surgery? Or has anyone had plastic surgery? Care to ‘fess up and tell us all about it? :)
image: new york magazine
I was asked how much I weigh the other day.
I responded by staring blankly back at the person. Firstly, what a question; and secondly, I couldn’t give a direct answer … because I had no idea. I also realized that I hadn’t weighed myself at all this year – yep, I don’t really have any idea how much I weigh. (Well, I have a rough estimate from the doctor’s office a few months ago, but that’s about it!)
But is that such a bad thing?
Like many other girls, I used to care about my weight and weigh myself everyday.
I did some modeling as a teen (nothing big, but it was nice pocket money). I’ve always been a “skinny kid” so I never thought about my weight too much. Yes, I was teased in school for being so scrawny, but I always thought it was more my height than being thin. (On hindsight, though, maybe it was both?)
But weight issues, talks of being thin, exercise and diet suddenly came into my vocabulary when I started modeling. With modeling, you’d go to castings, and at castings, you see your competition: Six feet tall, perfectly engineered, flawless young women. How could that not interfere with a young girl’s self esteem? (I was 14 or 15 when I started modeling). I also started to make some model friends, and though I’m not saying this is true with all models, the majority of them only talked about their body and their weight. Some would be skinnier than me, and much taller (so they would have to weigh more than someone who was shorter) – and yet they called themselves ‘fat’.
Before long, I started to wonder what they thought of me. Was I ‘fat’ in their eyes, too?
That’s when the obsessive weighing started. I would wake up each morning and weigh myself. I was satisfied at the weight I was, but anything over that (like at night, after all the day’s meals!) I would get depressed. My mind started telling me maybe I should stat dieting and eat salads like those other girls.
I did modeling for a few years with these thoughts growing more and more frequent in my head, month after month. I had other stuff going on in my life, so my self esteem eventually took a nose dive.
The deciding factor was when I was 18. I was at a fashion show and went to the bathroom, and overheard one of the other models throwing up behind a stall. I froze. I remember feeling sick to my stomach and thinking I couldn’t go on like this – who knows, it would only be a matter of time before I would be doing the same.
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Beauty is how you feel inside, and it reflects in your eyes.
It is not something physical. — Sophia Loren
Just like what inspired my post on How to Start Building Self-Esteem, so is a recent conversation with a close friend. He talked about a girl he liked that was “so pretty”, but when he described her personality, I could only cringe. I told him that she may have outer beauty, but it seems like she has no inner beauty. We then got to discussing what inner beauty was, and before you know it, we were both out of words… it’s just undefinable!
I like to think there is more to beauty than just physical appearance, that’s why Beauty Fool also focuses on the other side of beauty – the inner aspect. I love makeup, hairstyles, skin recommendations as much as the next girl, but I think ultimately true beauty lies within. But what exactly is inner beauty? When we say someone is ‘beautiful’ don’t we almost always refer to the physical beauty we can see?
This is what I came up with before my mind hit a blank: Inner beauty is having compassion for others, helping others, being joyful, being a shoulder to cry on, respecting others, respecting yourself, listening, smiling, having kindness to animals, loving others and of course, loving yourself. Phew!
So I have to ask: What is inner beauty to you? :)
Apologies for the ghastly newspaper scan, and the missed Beauty Tip of the Week post (next week will be extra good, promise), but I had to talk about this. Last weekend it was printed in Singapore’s leading newspaper about our very first plus-sized beauty pageant, where women had to be at least 80 kg (176 lbs) to join. Unfortunately, this caused quite a ruffling of feathers because from what I’ve heard (er, through Twitter) many are not at all supportive, claiming it is glamorizing being unhealthy.
But what do you think? I have a complete different view on beauty pageants in general, but that’s beyond the point. This pageant at least gives more ‘exposure’ to curvier women in the media, which I like. I’m sick of seeing the same old body type! Also, as we all know, the media influences young girl’s like no other, so hopefully this will be a positive thing. This reminds me of a friend I have who is absolutely beautiful and have always wanted to join modeling/pageants but was so insecure about her weight, so I think this is a great start.
What’s the big deal about weight, anyway? I have no problem with someone’s weight as long as it’s not deadly – meaning either under or over weight. Sure, I think actually having a beauty pageant with no weight/height limitations is even better; now that would make a statement! After all, all women are beautiful, no matter what size. Still, I’ll have to say this is a great start – from the women they interviewed from the piece, it all sounds like they have healthy body image and great confidence, so kudos to them! Imagine what this could do for a young girl who’s been insecure about her body? I love the message they are trying to get out.
I’d love to know what you think. Do you have plus-size beauty pageants in your country? What do you think about them in general? :) Do weigh in your thoughts! And be nice, please.
Don’t you love a girl who embraces her natural skin tone? Here’s Anne Hathaway at the Alice in Wonderland premiere (still obsessed with the movie!) looking absolutely breathtaking.
I remember once a guy told me, “if you’d get a tan, I’d date you. You’re too pale.” Goodness! (Isn’t it amazing how the West denotes beauty and luxury with being tan and bronzed, while the East think the exact opposite?). Girls, don’t obsess being too tan or too white. Don’t let anyone make you think your skin color is not “good enough!”, whether it’s too light, too dark, too whatever. All skin colors are beautiful and unique in their own ways.
I think self tanners and whitening/radiance products are fine, as long as it’s just a simple thing done once in a while – but I still think it’s even better to love and embrace your natural skin color. (If you don’t agree and must tan, avoid tanning beds and opt for self tanner products. And if you’d like to be fairer, please avoid dangerous ‘bleaching’ creams like a plague and opt for skin care products that promote radiance instead.)
To quote some beauty company I can’t remember, “love the skin you’re in” … it’s beautiful the way it is. :)
I was a bit hesitant to post this because I don’t like to judge anyone – however, I think it should be brought up, because 1) I can’t believe it made the front cover of People, almost implying it should be celebrated, and 2) what are young girls who watch MTV (or whatever show she is on) think?
Jezebel writes:
On November 20, 2009 Heidi Montag spent 10 hours getting a series of cosmetic surgery procedures, including increasing her breast implants to a DDD, getting “sexy ears”, and arching her brow, which Dr. Frank Ryan, her plastic surgeon, admits “isn’t commonly done” to 23-year-olds. In the accompanying 7-page interview, Heidi explains that she wanted to get the operations because her dream is to become a pop star and “it’s a superficial industry.”
Though People asking, “has she gone too far?” on the cover, suggests that there’s some kind of discussion about the dangers of plastic surgery in the magazine, Heidi is basically allowed to spew comments about how surgery was the answer to all of her body image issues. Even magazines like In Touch and Life & Style will usually consult with a “doctor who doesn’t treat the star” and tack on several paragraphs cautioning against becoming addicted to altering your appearance.
People only cites two doctors in its piece. Dr. Ryan justifies operating on Heidi, saying, “She’s doing what every other celebrity does… They just don’t talk about it.” The second doctor gets in six words in a sidebar on the last page. In the only challenge to Heidi advocating going under the knife, the magazine points out that about 5 to 10 percent of people who get cosmetic surgery have body dysmorphic disorder, a condition in which people look normal, “‘but they see a distorted image,’ says Jamie Feusner M.D., a psychiatrist who heads UCLA’s BDD Research Program.”
Yesterday actress Emmy Rossum Tweeted about Heidi’s cover,
It upsets me to see young women in the spotlight advocating plastic surgery. ANY surgery is extremely dangerous&should not be taken lightly, ..much less, used as a tool to increase notoriety or popularity… By putting this on magazine covers, we are somehow legitimizing the dangerous lengths to which some will go for fame and “beauty”
Judging from the public reaction to the songs Heidi has already released, it seems unlikely that her new appearance will catapult her to pop music stardom. However as Rossum points out, the surgery has already allowed her to increase her notoriety by appearing on the cover of People, while just recently she had a hard time getting on the cover of one of the far less legitimate celebrity weeklies.
Heidi already wants another procedure to make her breasts even bigger because when she posed for Playboy, “I didn’t fill out one of the bras and they had to Photoshop my boobs bigger and it was disheartening.” She says this is just the beginning of what she wants to have done and, “I plan to keep using surgery to make me as perfect as I can be.”
Here’s the 10 procedures Heidi underwent (and her husband Spencer Pratt allowed):
- nose job revision,
- chin reduction,
- mini brow lift,
- botox in forehead and frown area,
- fat injections in cheeks, nasolabial folds and lips,
- neck liposuction,
- ears pinned back,
- liposuction on waist, hips and inner and outer thighs,
- buttock augmentation
- breast augmentation revision.
P.S. In case you didn’t catch that, she’s only TWENTY-THREE years old.
Her reason for all this, she told People, is “to feel perfect.” I have no words, though I feel sorry for her. She seems to have some serious body image and self-esteem issues. :( I feel very sad that Hollywood does this to young women, as this issue also prompted a previous post, Is Hollywood Pushing the Standards of Beauty Too Far?
… I guess we really have our answer. Any thoughts?
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