Ideals of
femininity, womanhood and beauty were pressed upon us from a dangerously young
age, our families, the men we loved, the media and religion scrutinized us so
much and for so long, that we took it upon ourselves to become our own greatest critics, we sniffed
and analyzed every flaw until we’ve taught our own minds to work against us,
turning our own eyes into two spies constantly following us and judging us with
their vulture squints. Everywhere we turned there was some magic lotion promising to
make us look ten years younger, because as women we aren’t allowed to age of course,
breast enhancing bras are available for twelve year old girls, hair
extensions, fake lashes, fake nails, fake breast fillets, a fake tan, a corset
to make us look slimmer, five inch heels too make us look taller, and vaginal
cream for darker skinned women promising to make their vaginas fairer! And the
world is still baffled by why women can’t just relax and be themselves, why
we’re not more genuine and authentic, why we struggle so much with self-image
and suffer so much with low levels of confidence and self-esteem. Our bodies were never ours, the sacredness of our bodies, the meaning of our bodies were not measures decided by ourselves, and because our bodies were never ours we did not know how to be in our bodies, we only saw ourselves through other people's eyes.
