.
From the time we’re infants, we are bombarded with images of what beauty is and how women should look. We grow into adulthood experiencing self-loathing if we don’t meet the social ideal, or we struggle desperately to meet it. Why do we complacently accept this? These images are everywhere and for most of us it’s impossible to meet these standards. Yet women are constantly posting on Instagram filtered images in bikinis or sexy yoga poses on beaches to feel worthy of love, acceptance & existence.
These sexualized images of women don’t help men either. They distort men’s ideas & perceptions of true beauty & true attraction, the magnetic undercurrent that occurs between two people. They are conditioned to believe there is only one ideal of beauty for women. I should know. I’ve been the ‘ugly duckling’ as a teenager & the ‘beauty’ later on. I’ve been the SAME person & shocked by the vast difference in attraction & attention from men.
In small & large ways we can say NO to a culture that places self-worth on being ‘hot’. When you’re praised for your looks, it’s a bottomless pit of approval-seeking. It’s so much better to find something else that brings you self-worth and follow that deeply. Then it just doesn’t matter how many ‘likes’ you get. You’re just happy!
Holly English 