Time to Break that Mirror

originally posted 06 NOV 2014

Recently, a friend shared a photo on Facebook. She had walked by a full-length mirror that made her look super skinny. She posted, "I need this mirror!" Very quickly, many other women were liking the post and commenting, "Me too!"

Let me tell you about this woman. She is gorgeous. She works out. She's in shape. She has a body most women would love to have. I posted, "You're gorgeous. You wouldn't really want to look anorexic." Even more quickly, other women liked my post.

How many teenage girls saw her post that day? Probably quite a few. Here is a very attractive lady who is in great shape telling them that you can always be thinner and equating thinness to happiness.
And that is the lie our culture has for us. We are bombarded with images of women who are photoshopped to look unrealistically skinny. Women and girls are frequently ANA (pro-anorexia boards) in greater and greater numbers. We are given unhealthy and dangerous diets like the hCG diet (500 calories a day).

Our culture is promoting the idea that we need to look like boys to be happy. We need to lose our curves and lose our femininity to look good and that is a lie. I've shared that I have a mother with an eating disorder. She's bought into the lie that she has to be super skinny to be appreciated.
We moved to the Caribbean when I was in my late 30s. To give you an idea, I was in really good shape and exercising frequently but my BMI was in the 26 to 27 range. I have never gotten more catcalls in my life than when I lived there. Curviness was celebrated in that culture and I like that. I'd like to see that appreciated in our culture as well.

I'd like to see us break those mirrors that prevent us from seeing our true worth. I'd like to see us appreciate and see our true beauty. Don't let society dictate your value. It'll never be enough. And, most of all, pass this along to the next generation. These girls need to know they are already beautiful.