Perfect Just the Way We Are

There was a photo in a recent issue of Glamour magazine that seems to have continued feedback from readers. The magazine was flooded with e-mails and letters from readers who say they love the “woman on p.194” who is pictured in her underwear, proudly showing off her pooch. (Click here to see the Glamour magazine photo.)

The relatively unknown model was featured in a body-confidence article “What everyone but you sees about your body.”  One reader from Massachusetts wrote in and said “This beautiful woman has a real stomach and did I see some stretch marks? This is how my belly looked after giving birth to my two amazing kids! This photo made me want to shout from the rooftops.” Showing a picture of a woman with some belly hanging over her underwear is a pretty radical move for a magazine. I’d like to see the day when they feature a 70-year-old naked woman. 

Aren’t all women supposed to be young and thin and a bit bony? Isn’t the body merely a hanger for designer clothing? Without their garments, we would think that some of these women are suffering from famine.

Did you know that the average women’s size is between a twelve and a fourteen? Yet we somehow believe we should be a two, four or six because the media consistently showcases women in these sizes.

The way our weight is distributed on our body is usually genetic. I have the same body as my mother and grandmother. I would have liked to have the same body as Angelina Jolie, but it just wasn’t in the cards. I spent a great deal of time as a young woman trying to lose weight and be a size my body consistently rebelled against. I tried all kinds of diets and even took amphetamines that my obstetrician gave me after the birth of my daughter. Oh, I got thin all right.  But I was also a whirling dervish.

Isn’t it time we just appreciate who we are and the body we’re in?

Lighten Up Your Week:

Let’s stop worrying about being picture-perfect. Being healthy, happy and fit are much more important that trying to have a so-called perfect body.