Work should be cancelled on spring’s first sunny and 65 day. Since I’ve yet to get this passed into law, I had to make do with a lunch break spent outside in the sunshine, in a little sculpture garden near my office. I picked up the latest issue of Glamour and just relished some free time on a beautiful day.
One reason I continue to support Glamour, even though I’ve slowly cut most fashion mags out of my life (why is the subject of a post for another day), is that they seem to actually be trying to include a wider variety of beauty and spread a more empowering message, and I like to vote with my dollars to encourage that. Indeed, this issue featured a shot of plus size model Lizzie Miller, made famous by her naked photo that appeared in Glamour. It also featured an ad that says “YOU are beautiful” that I’m thinking of taping to my computer monitor. Other things I liked seeing included a letter from Eve Ensler encouraging readers to embrace themselves as emotional beings, and advice from Ellen DeGeneres to “Find out who you are and be that person. That’s what your soul was put on this earth to be. Find that truth, live that truth, and everything else will come.” Stuff like that almost makes up for ads targeting me for 0 calorie jello snacks (God forbid a woman consume a calorie!), ads for SlimQuick supplements (yay quackery!), and ads for tobacco products (can’t we just say no to accepting money from companies that peddle death?).
Anyway, this month’s cover girl is Victoria Beckham, with an adorable spread featuring her looking glamorous while cuddling with puppies and schlepping groceries and trying to seem “normal” as a pop star turned fashion icon with a soccer hottie for a husband can seem. And, as I read through the interview, I found myself wishing Glamour had maybe edited Posh’s interview a bit. Because reading that Posh said this made me mad:
I’m not a supermodel. I make the best of what I’ve got. I work out to look the best that I can, but I’m no Gisele.
I’m sure she was trying to seem down-to-earth, self-deprecating, and relatable, but it just made me think, “Wow, if even Posh isn’t beautiful, there’s no hope for me!” And the thing is, most of the time, I think I’m beautiful. I think every person reading this blog is beautiful. And I think we all just need to see that! Especially ironic is that two sentences later, when asked what she thinks is most sexy on a woman, Vickie B. replied:
I think the sexiest thing about a woman is confidence, but confidence in a humble way, not in an arrogant way.
Self-confidence is being able to say “YES, I AM BEAUTIFUL,” Victoria! Because you are! Because WE are! Because six year old girls are picking up the toxic stuff we’re spewing out and it’s time to start a beauty revolution. At one point in time, I thought that beauty was this finite thing. That acknowledging that another woman was beautiful meant admitting that I was not. That I was less than. But the thing is, we are all gorgeous, wonderful, and loved creations, and we need to hold onto that and proclaim that and invite others to share in that.
Dear Vickie B.,
You are BEAUTIFUL. Please accept this. We could use more voices out there refusing to bow to insecurity, to proudly proclaim that to be a woman is to be a thing of beauty, and this is something we can all share.
Love,
ernie
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