Well, the bad news is that the internet is annoying me this week. I have yet to find any little treasures that I want to pass on to you. It’s all Bieber this and Bieber that. Although you do have to admit that his mug shot is classic. Come on, you know you want to have a looksie.
So as I’m sitting here picking the nail polish off my nails which always seems like a good idea until you’re about 2/3 of the way through and realize it was a very bad idea but too late to stop now, I am thinking about beauty and why we even paint our nails in the first place. And that reminded me of a new web site that I do want to share with you.
Which in its own way is very timely because there seems to be a lot of backlash in the media about the media (yes, very hypocritical indeed) and the photoshopping of models and celebrities. I think there have been about 200 videos on UpWorthy about this. And this week, Jezebel attempted to chastise Vogue for photoshopping Lena Dunham and body shaming and you get the point and then everyone turned against Jezebel and it was all very confusing. And yes, annoying.
Only one nail left.
So it is refreshing to see a site like RAW Beauty Talks launch because they are taking beautiful portraits of real women without makeup and without touch ups and amazing natural light. And they’re asking really poignant and personal questions about the participant’s concepts of beauty.
I was introduced to this web site by one of the participants who is a dear friend from college. You can see her interview here. I think she is incredibly brave (and beautiful) to put herself out there in such a vulnerable way. And I keep sharing it all over the internet. Love you Jo!
I’m not sure where I stand on all of this. It seems obvious that we have a distorted view of beauty in our society. The gap between reality and the fantasy pages of high fashion magazines has always been wide but seems to have grown even wider. And I think its beyond important to instill in girls and women that beauty is more than external trappings and skinny thighs and glowing skin – it’s about the whole package. What you believe, what you say, and yes, even how you present yourself in this world. That doesn’t mean embracing over-photoshopped skeletons as an ideal, but it does mean being confident and positive and expressing yourself in a way that is true to you.
So in honor of true beauty, I took a few of the questions that RAW Beauty Talks uses in their interviews and sat down and answered them myself. You should try it too – take a few minutes to think about beauty and how it affects you. Feeling really brave? Leave your thoughts in the comments.
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What is your definition of ‘beautiful’?
Exuding confidence and individuality.
Have you ever felt like you weren’t beautiful? If yes, when does this feeling usually come up?
Every day around 4:00pm when I look in the mirror and say “What was I thinking?” Kidding. Kidding. Sure, in middle school and high school and college because I was so different than the standard beauties that guys were into and that’s how I measured my value. I wasn’t comfortable in my own skin and it showed. And then after I had kids I sort of relapsed because I had to totally overhaul my identity and that was rough on the old self. But now, I don’t really think about external beauty that much. I like to express myself through my clothes and style and hair and makeup. But I don’t do it to be beautiful. I do it because that’s just me (maybe I’m a total victim of mass media brainwashing but even when I was 8, I was wearing crazy shit like neon pink suspenders with matching tie, when I was 13, I was buying velour men’s shirts at Goodwill, and it only got weirder from there).
What things (if any) are you most insecure about?
Oddly enough, I’m insecure about being tall. When I wear heels I feel like a freak show giant. Petite I am not. But I also think that with age there comes a certain level of acceptance. I mean I don’t walk around going – look at my jiggly thighs, giant feet, bags under my eyes, and hairy chin – aren’t they awesome?? But I also don’t obsess over them either. Well maybe the chin hairs – just a little. But overall, I’ve come to accept that they are what they are. You get what you get.
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Well then, there’s a little insight into how I feel about beauty. And my nails are now totally polish free.
If I was really committed to Raw Beauty I would take a selfie and post it right here, right now.
Yeah right! I’ll save that for the 22 year olds.
Have a very real (and beautiful) weekend.
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