And it means knowing your worth and not listening to anyone.
Society has left me simply baffled tonight.
I'll start with this. A screenshot I took off Facebook tonight that sums up clearly what is wrong with all the beauty expectations society places on women, and that we often burden ourselves with. The truth? It's bullshit. All of it.
I mean, excuse me?? She is being shamed for not having a flat stomach? Is this seriously how petty and ludicrous people have become? Never mind the fact she doesn't lip-sync. And screw the fact that she is behind absolutely every aspect of her own career and shows this undying, passionate love for her fans in return for the loyalty they show her. Dismiss that she writes all her own songs. And how hard she trains and works to be in the shape she's in. The days and hours she puts in. The diligence it must take to stay on top of that. Who cares about the bruises on her legs you can see in certain photos of her?
Her Half-Time Show at the SuperBowl was a stellar performance that left many in awe at the athletics and passion that went into it. But never mind the fact she sang “God Bless America” on the rooftop then jumped off. Let’s be real. How many of us could have done in 13 minutes what she did on that stage? And these idiots are going to try calling her out because her stomach isn’t flat enough? And just forget the part about her fighting for women's and LGBT rights at a time when her country desperately needs someone to follow other than that ridiculous orangutan the US calls a president now. Oh. Sorry. That's an insult to orangutans.
I really, really wonder if people actually listen to themselves and how purely ludicrous they sound. It blows my mind that people are this petty and shallow. That they truly obsess about these things. Because her stomach was the last thing I was concerning myself with while watching her performance.
Then, to top it off, later on this showed up in my Facebook news feed and just fed the feminist-bitch fire in me.
So now we’ve gone from shaming Lady Gaga, in great shape and top form for her career at 29-years old, to commending this model in her senior years because she still wears bathing suits and poses for Sports Illustrated with her daughters? The double standard here is laughable and ridiculous.
I’m not going to sit here and shame this woman, either. The timing was merely mind-blowing and left me disappointed in humanity. I am sure Brinkley has put immense effort into her career as well. I’ve never heard of her up until today so I’m in no place to say otherwise.
Although it’s said all the time, no female body is perfect. Hell, no human body fits completely into societal standards. People starve themselves and develop eating disorders over this kind of thing. It’s an unhealthy mindset to look at someone like Lady Gaga or Brinkley and focus only on that one perceived flaw. It’s because of strong, intelligent and driven women that young girls get a healthy source of inspiration. To make appearance the focal point diminishes potential in other areas. Like intelligence, compassion, humanity and ambition. Like fighting for human rights and equality. Because really, does an un-flat stomach really matter when Trump is about to take away so much from American women? From removing health care coverage to wanting to de-fund Planned Parenthood, there are far more serious issues we as women, as people, need to worry about. This is all a mere distraction from the violations and treacherous behaviour we should be outraged over. The Muslim ban, separating families. Trump’s want to repeal same-sex marriage laws.
We have so much to fight for right now, that getting tunnel vision over a stomach flaw is exactly what he wants. It is just the division he wants to see after the tremendous success of the Women’s March, which was so inspiring and uplifting. That is the spirit we need to keep. We need to keep lifting each other up and encouraging and inspiring each other, regardless of gender, race, or any of that. We need to remember what we are worth, that our value is NOT our weight or dress size or whether our stomachs are flat. It is not in how diligently you can apply make up and it is not in the brand names you wear or don’t.
We are what we fight for.
We are whatever banner we fly freely within our hearts.
We are the freedom we march for.
We are the rights we continue to fight for.
We are our passion and dreams.
We the diamonds encrusting our hearts because we are strong. And we don’t need to listen to shallow minds who try to tell us how we should look.
Lady Gaga herself said it best in her responding Instagram post.
