Kate Winslet. I love her. Always have. And today, I love her even more.
I recently read a quote by her that made a huge impact. It left a mark in my mind + heart and brought even more attention to an important change that needs to be made in the conversation:
Isn’t this quote powerful?
Did you grow up hearing any women say, “I am proud of my body”? I certainly didn’t.
And, I’m not placing blame. (Mom, I think you’re amazing!) The truth is that was and still is the state of our nation—even world. We’re bombarded with made-up images that tell us we have to look a certain way to have the life of our dreams. Everywhere we turn we see sex, youth, thin, white.
Our magazine covers display false beauty and promote quick weight-loss. Our royalty (aka movie stars) have a team of people (stylists, make-up artists, hair designers) to guarantee they meet to the high standards and expectations of their glamorous life.
Keeping up with the standard of beauty is hard. In fact, it’s impossible.
For me, I accept society’s model of beauty. I know when I walk into a grocery store I’m going to see an article about quick weight loss. I’m also going to see an article bashing a woman because she has cellulite. I know when I turn on the television I’m going to see a commercial for an anti-aging product or some advertisement sexualizing a woman’s body to sell their hamburger.
I know this. And, I don’t get mad about it, because I know the anger only perpetuates the issue.
Instead, I accept this as society’s reality…but I DO NOT accept it as my reality.
And you don’t have to either.
It’s not easy to swim upstream—to go against the grain. It takes massive courage to say I’m beautiful, right now today with acne, with whiskers, with cellulite, with stretch marks, with wrinkles, etc.
Change happens over time when enough people believe it’s possible. Look at the civil rights movement. Look at the women’s movement. Enough souls held a higher vision, joined together and made history.
This is the opportunity we have in front of us today. We can choose to see our body as enough and take pride in it…and actually tell our children, as Kate shared in the above quote.
We are entering an era where truth is valuable and beautiful. Where your body is more than something pretty to look at—it’s a vehicle for your soul’s message.
Because of this, I invite you—no, I dare you—to stand in your power and tell someone (or everyone!) that you are PROUD of your body. Let’s change the conversation.
Love,
Amber
feature photo (above the title) by
Love, love, love this post. I too never heard any female in my life express her love for her body. It was always the opposite and everybody was always on a diet. It terrified me, so, yes, the more pride we share and show the better.
This is great, Amber. I tried to use the buttons to share it on Facebook but for some reason they didn’t work. So I just copied & pasted the link! It’s such a good message, I had to find some way to share it!
This blog gave me goosebumps and brought joy to my heart 🙂 thank you
Loved this. Thank you for putting it together. In a world where perfection is the goal for so many people, we all need a constant reminder that happiness is the ultimate goal and it doesn’t come from perfection, it is simply a choice. I now choose to love my body everyday, it’s not always easy with the messages out there, but I like you don’t really get angry or upset. I can make my reality whatever I choose it to be. I choose love.
My mom did not want me read ‘teen’ magazines(in the 70’s) and she did not read . I think that act in itself led to fairly healthy attitude about my body. I remember in my late 20’s being told by a friend that I was the only woman she knew that didn’t have food issues.
Since then I have intermittently used food for comfort when stressed, but I am working to get back to my food roots:)
@Anne-Sophie, @Nancy, @Fayth, @Kristie, & @Julie – Thank you so very very much for reading, support and commenting. I love that you are here, contributing to this work and this world. xo
I am fortunate I have always loved my body. It serves me very well. I have looked after it and nurtured it and at age 52 am incredibly proud of it. But I have to say I think it was just luck I was born with confidence. I have three teenage daughters and everyday I tell them they are beautiful and have beautiful bodies but all the telling in the world makes no difference. FB, magazines, media and peers have the final say how they feel about themselves.
By the way let’s keep kids bodies safe! See this youtube clip of a children’s book on ‘body safety’ and also
My body is my body’ safety song for young children.
http://youtu.be/4YjJ1MreZqs
http://youtu.be/LZE3LEl-Fj0
I love this message! My body changed so radically when I had my first (and only) child at 40. I had to learn to love my “new” body so I could honestly relay the same message to my daughter that Kate Winslet does with her daughter.
But, let’s not forget about our sons. They are not immune to the same unrealistic messages women see. Females are not the only sex that suffers from eating disorders. As well, our sons need to know that a woman is beautiful even if she is not a size 4 and perfectly toned.
I love this. I have a 2 year old daughter and I am constantly thinking about how to raise her to be confident, strong, intelligent, and healthy. I know that she will model much of this on my own actions, but I had never thought of it this way. Today begins my journey to learn to truly love my own body, regardless of what other people think or say about what it should look like.
I must be lucky, I have never dieted, I have curves, I have always been proud of my hourglass figure, and am always being told I don’t look my age. The trick, not give, pardon the language a flying f**k about the rest of the world. Let your body find its own level and let it stay there. I did this in defiance of being told I was worthless and ugly. Be glad you have a full figure and flaunt it.
I wish this movement towards empowering women with a real sense of their own beauty had begun when I was a young girl, but I am so grateful that the conversation has been started now that I have a baby daughter. As Gandhi said you must ‘Be the change you want to see in the world’ In order to really see a change – we must all constantly challenge these destructive ideals of beauty, calmly and articulately expressing ourselves until our words break through into main stream media. This is not just a fight for women- men must fight it too! Let’s stop mindlessly participating in this relentless negativity. I want to see a better world for my children.
I am a photographer shooting a project about this very subject. I am so glad you have raised this issue. I hope peoles attitudes to body image starts to evolve from where it currently is. It is not healthy… If anyone is interested in joining my project and want sot hear more you can contact me via my website http://www.dfphotography.co.uk – I am based in the south of the UK so you kind of need to be too!