Is it because I watched too much reality TV?
And what I see is totally different,
Whose reality or model of beauty do I believe?
Why do I not love the full span of my wide hips seamlessly connected to my thick thighs?
Why do I not appreciate my full mid-drift rippled in medium toned six-pack?
Why am I ashamed of the voluptuous-ness of my breasts and the fullness of my love handles?
Why is it that I do love the symmetrical lines of my face?
Eyes,
Nose, lips and mouth,
I love my smile!
Moles and age spots,
My flawed beauty marks,
Nonetheless,
Then I am told that my coarse medium length hair isn't beautiful because it doesn't flow long and silky,
Is this why I feel prettiest with 12 to 14-inch extensions in my hair?
Mirror Mirror…why cannot I love all parts of me?
Why do I rationalize my standards of BEUATY to fit a norm that will never be me!
So mirror I stand before you naked,
Exposing my flaws and learning to love them all!
I love how my full body feels as my fingers caress my smooth fleshly skin…
It is a damn shame that all of this time I have neglected my own finesse.
No more will I view my BODY IMAGE and BEAUTY through a mirror that never belonged to me originally.
Mirror Mirror hanging on my wall,
Thank you for the refracted image of me,
For the first time in 28 years,
I LOVE seeing every aspect of me!
Take me as I am or leave me the hell alone!
Posts
Oh honey!! I have had this conversation in my mirror more times than I care to count and still have issues with it. Every time I get dressed to go out, the criticism of myself begins...my makeup's not right, my stomach is too fat, my butt isn't full enough, my breasts are too big, blah blah blah. I thank you for writing this because the conversation needs to change. Instead of focusing on what we thing is wrong by society's standards, we should only be focused on what is right - and that is because we are God's children we are already perfect. Our "flaws" aren't flaws at all, but the very things that make us uniquely beautiful, and for that we should all give thanks. Love you my beautiful sister!
ReplyDelete@Phoenixesquire thanks for your eloquent words well spoken..ase'...celebrating our natural beauty is not how we as women are conditioned to believe. We recieve messages culturally, historically, socially esp through the media. It seems as if our story our image is scattered about as women of color. We are so diverse in our evolution of beauty that one norm of beauty elminates or de-values the image of us we see daily. I believe what I see is the norm because God created many things and I am one of God's rare creations just like you are and so forth. Thank you for sharing your experience in this space. I honor you beautiful Queen my Kindred Sister...
ReplyDeleteDon't sleep, we men have those same conversations, I'm in the gym everyday and still say things can be mo betta. Lovin the honesty in your writing. I swear its gonna save somebodys life. WRite on, write on
ReplyDelete