FLAWED N FABULOUS

Hey beautiful people!! Hope you are enjoying the first week of October, also known as MY BIRTHDAY MONTH!!!! I'm so excited, and I have no idea why haha. I don't have anything special planned but I do believe there will be some special and awesome things that will happen for me this month. No matter how big or small I embrace it. With that said strap in we're going for a controversial ride cuz I like to push the envelope every now and then....

When you see this photo what is the first thing that comes to your mind? How do you feel about it?

I first saw this photo a couple of days ago and the caption under the photo said "I don't care what no one says this is not cool or healthy . Hit the gym" That comment outraged me. Who is this person to say those things? How would she know if they were or were not healthy? A person being plus size, heavy set, thick, fluffy or whatever word you use does not make them unhealthy. I myself am a thick fluffy woman and I not only go to the gym and workout(not as much anymore since my injury) but I am VERY healthy. However, this information is not from me but from a licensed professional called my DOCTOR....this woman is not a doctor and even if she was you cannot judge healthiness based on a photo. 

When I managed to get past the caption on the photo, this photo to ME was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. When I look at this photo I feel like I can identify with these women. Immediately you look to pick out which one resembles you, whether you do it subconsciously or consciously, we all do it. When we see a fashion magazine we look to see our style, we look to see what would look good on us, our favorite color, what would match our personality etc. Comparison is going on all the time. In a society where weight is a HUGE issue (no pun intended) and everyone that is portrayed in fashion magazines are a size zero its so hard to not think something is wrong with you. The average woman is a size 14. That's the average but society and the media would make you think the average woman is a size zero and anything over that is fat. Our children are picking up on this way as well. When our little girls look at the television they see these super models, and tv personalities they want to be like them, they want to look like them, dress like them etc. They are comparing themselves to these people, when they see these young girls they say I want to look like...I want to be tall like....I want my body shaped like....and the list goes on. I went shopping one day and heard a little girl say to her mom in the dressing room next to me, I wish my body looked like the girl from iCarly. (For all you big kids or parents with kids you know what I'm talking about) This little girl had to be no older than 8. See...comparison at it's finest. Why do we do this? Even if it's positive or negative the fact is we compare.

This is what we as a society and the media portrays skinny and not so skinny woman as. Do you agree? or is it just another Sterotype?

http://www.about-face.org/category/authors/stacey-jean-speer/

Looking at this picture makes me sad. Why can't we be happy in our own skin without having to tear someone else down in order to build ourselves up? In speaking of body image and comparison, when I see a magazine article I am not surprise to see someone's body plastered across it, but what does surprise me is an ad campaigns like the Dove real woman campaign because its not the norm. We have made size zero the norm, we have made small, skinny women the norm. We made hot skinny women in bikinis in every music video the norm. (CONFESSION: I need to stop here and make sure I let you all know I have no problem whatsoever with skinny woman, I am not a skinny woman hater at all. I think the female body was created beautiful just as I think the male body was created beautiful. I have no issue with those that want to lose weight and want to make a healthier lifestyle change etc. This is not what this post is about.) I can appreciate when I can see something outside of the norm. Seeing a plus size woman stomps the stereotypes, to come out and do a nude photo shoot. I'm fairly comfortable in my own skin but I do have some insecurities and in that I don't think I could do that. Skinny or not. When I see the Dove women, it shows that these are real everyday average (size 14) woman that I can relate to in some way, shape or form (again no pun intended...kinda haha) I think plus size woman have such a negative connotation attached to us, it's also the norm, however what surprised me about the picture above is that so do skinny women. In my head I thought everyone wants to be skinny, no one would look at the skinny girl and think twice but if a bigger woman walks by she all of a sudden needs to stay away from the buffet, go to the gym, and basically wear a bag over her head.

This is an anti fur campaign but when you see it, its deemed as hot, sexy, beautiful. To sum it up "the norm".

http://www.greenwala.com/channels/nature/blog/19178-Lingerie-Football-League-Ladies-Go-Nude-for-PETA-s-Anti-Fur-Campaign

Even though these women have stepped out of the box and taken these photos it does not mean that they do not suffer from body issues, it does not make one person or photo more beautiful than the other. As I said before I think the human body is beautiful, because I know we were all beautifully, fearfully and wonderfully made. We are all flawed but in our flawness we are all FABULOUS because we are fearfully and wonderfully made. We were knitted in our mother's womb, we were fashioned to be the way we are at this present moment. Will we always be this way, of course not. Our purpose in life is to grow, mature and excel. I have to learn something or grow every year so that I do not stay complacent. Do I think the plus size women in the photo struggle with body image, I am sure they do, do I think the smaller women in the photo  struggle with body image, again I am sure they do. I personally have yet to meet a person, not just a female or a male but a person in general that is okay with how they are. Every one of us want or wish we could change something.

http://www.lateenough.com/2012/05/what-is-victorias-secret-selling-and-why-does-it-work/

Even in looking at this photo I don't feel like I can relate to any of the models in this photo. I don't see myself in this photo and have no one to compare myself to. Do I feel its beautiful..yes of course but I also feel if it was plus size woman on the campaign I would think it was equally beautiful if not more and it would even spark my interest more. Maybe this whole this is about being able to identify with someone you see. I don't necessarily know why we have to identify but it helps when I see someone that reminds me of me, or struggles like I struggle or feels the way I do etc. It lets me know that I am not alone.

However, I do love the message in this campaign photo that says I LOVE MY BODY!!!! Big, small, short, tall, wide, narrow, dimple, wrinkle, cellulite, stretch marks and whatever else I LOVE MY BODY just the way I am in this moment, right now. How many of us can honestly say that? I can say that because I know who I am and whose I am. I know how I was created and I am content in that. No matter if I want to change things about myself or not, or wish I was this or that, does not take away from my contentment. There's nothing wrong with wanting to change or grow. It's apart of life, but I will not obsess and stress myself out trying to become a size everyone else says I should be. This is how eating disorders come about. I've been down that road and it's not pretty. I was obsessed with a three digit number every time I stepped on the scale, if it didn't read what I needed or wanted it to I would go throw up until it read what I needed and wanted it to. So to come so far from that to being content where I am is a HUGE step in the right direction.

It might be cliche but I think It's important that we as men and women must know and believe that we truly are amazing just the way we are!

I'm a work in progress but even in all of my FLAWNESS I am still FABULOUS 

SS <3

Thoughts, comments, suggestions, stories, feelings?? Please share below. And as always thank you for your love & support!!

Video Source

I love the lyrics in this song that says:

But don't hate on us, were fabulous

We're all that we've got
and no matter whatever together we'll weather the stormIT AIN'T A LOT, we all we got, it might get rough, but
it's alrightCause U-N-I-T-Y is all we need
To get our R-E-S-P-E-C-T
And never G-I-V-E U-P
And keep your H-E-A-D U-P
Jaheim Video Source