Scrolling through your facebook, twitter, or instagram feed you are constantly exposed to images of various women and slogans depicting qualities that “real women” possess. Real women have curves. Real women have muscles. Real women have tattoos. Real women lift heavy. Real women wear heels. Real women satisfy their men and make them sandwiches, real women BLAH BLAH BLAH, the list goes on for days! These slogans have the ability to both empower and degrade. If you are in fact a woman with tattoos then you feel amazing, strong, and beautiful. If not, are you somehow less? Are you lacking? If you aren’t tattooed and therefore aren’t a “real” woman, then what does that make you? I find these sayings to be shallow, meaningless, and absolutely infuriating!!!! Whether we are aware of it or not, seeing slogans like these constantly, along with fitness or motivational memes showing images of airbrushed physical perfection, has the ability to chip away at our self worth. We begin to question ourselves, our beauty, and our validity as a woman. Who has the right to insinuate that a female must qualify to be a woman based on specific characteristics? Why does our society insist on putting us in boxes, lists, categories, or binders?!?! Why does the media and society put such pressure on women to live up to practically impossible standards of physical perfection? Is it so hard to accept that what qualifies a woman as being real or beautiful may be deeper than the superficial. Do we as women feel the need to relate to these slogans to boost our self-esteem, make ourselves feel elite, and set ourselves apart from those beneath us, or who are different? I say TO HELL WITH THIS!!!! Real women, beautiful women come in all shapes, sizes, and colors, with varying features, thoughts, interests, opinions, dreams, goals, desires, sexual preferences, and religious beliefs. Beauty is not defined by physical appearance but rather qualities we possess and how we conduct ourselves. Strength, independence, integrity, creativity, compassion, acceptance, intelligence… these are qualities we should associate with real women and true beauty. Qualities we should commend and qualities we should strive for. As real women I say we lift each other up! Love and celebrate our differences. Instead of our differences causing us to feel divided, inadequate, or intimidated, let’s become inspired and empowered by what makes us all unique.
2 Comments
5/3/2018 01:42:29 am
All women are beautiful regardless of shape, color and size. I find these slogans shallow. They are setting standards of who's beautiful and who's not when in fact all women are beautiful in their own way. Ironically, these posts are the ones that get many likes and shares. It would be better if they create slogans that would empower every woman. WhenI see posts like this, I just ignore them because I'm sure it was created by narrow-minded people.
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