Love your bawdy!!

I know that my blog is fashion-based but I wanted to switch it up a bit and talk about something that I think a lot of people can relate to which is body image. While I love social media for its networking opportunities and entertainment (I am always laughing way too hard at Instagram posts, I swear), but it can be ridiculously toxic. I always see a post of a young and beautiful woman flaunting her, what seems to be, perfect body and want to immediately say "Damn, imagine if I had that body." I used to say that at a time when I was insecure about my body; I hated the way my body looked because I was so skinny and petite. Now some of you may say, "What? How can you be insecure about having a skinny figure? Who wouldn't want to be skinny?" First of all, please do not think being skinny is the ideal look because that can just lead to people, especially women, finding unhealthy ways to achieve that look. So many beauty standards have been created and they force insecurities on us, which can make us want to change ourselves physically. For this post, I want to focus on insecurities pushed onto women.

I had always been underweight throughout elementary school, up until my freshman year of high school. My parents literally thought something was wrong with me, which eventually made me feel like something was wrong. I used to hate eating, which was the problem, but now I eat all the time and still hear the typical, "Do you eat?" or "You need some meat on your bones." I never talked to anyone about this because I always felt like I did not have the place to talk about body shaming since it is most common and harsher among plus-size women. Then, I realized the ideal body today is just unnatural. If a woman is not "slim thick" like the Kardashians, then they are either too fat or too skinny and the problem with that is naturally thin and naturally curvy women are automatically marginalized. While I am all for women doing whatever the hell they want with their bodies because we deserve that freedom, it worries me when women turn to unhealthy options to achieve such an ideal beauty standard. Some women are getting plastic surgery that can be dangerous, using waist trainers, and/or resorting to unhealthy eating habits that can eventually result in eating disorders. All of this from seeing a picture of a woman who is just hitting the right angles? Call me overly optimistic, but I truly wish all women could just love their natural bodies.

Too my ladies: The next time you see a picture of a gorgeous, "slim thick" gal, remember that it is okay if you do not look like that. What you see on social media does not always tell the full story. The next time you find yourself glorifying Kim Kardashian's body, please stop yourself while you can and move on with your life. Kim has all the money in the world to do whatever she wants with her body. She is the same person that found it logical to promote weight loss lollipops...lollipops ladies. If you are naturally thiccc, embrace it! If you are naturally thin, embrace it! And if you are naturally slim thick, please embrace it! Of course, we are all going to be insecure about something regarding our body and body confidence does not happen overnight but remember that we live in a society that over-glorifies unnatural body types. Let's break the beauty standards by embracing our beautiful and NATURAL selves.

                                                                            -AK