There are countless incidents in life that require an apology.
Smashing your dad’s relatively new 2008 Toyota Matrix into a pole in a Taco Bell parking lot requires an apology. Puking in your friend’s room after a crazy night in Midtown requires a huge apology (as well as some serious housekeeping work the next day).
But there are other things that should never be met with an apology. Like your body, for instance.
In an article titled “Sorry, We’re Not Sorry: The 20 Things Women Should No Longer Have To Apologize For,” Elite Daily writer Laura Argintar wrote a list of circumstances for which women should no longer have to apologize. The list contains everything from bodily functions that are in no one’s control to personality traits and preferences, both inside and outside the bedroom.
Via: Elite Daily
The one that got me was the one about bra cup sizes. My initial reaction was to verbally express myself the way a truck driver in 5 p.m. traffic would. After I got that out of my system, however, all I could muster was laughter.
This was bullshit.
I tried my best to imagine a situation where a woman would ever need to apologize for her bra cup size, but I came up blank. Was this seriously something that made the list of things women should no longer have to apologize for? When the hell did we EVER have to apologize for it?
I’m sorry, ladies, but if men can slap on their beer bellies and have an article go viral about how chicks dig their sloppy physiques, it’s time that we step up our game. I’m talking about body confidence.
I’ve been an A cup my whole life. At 16, my lady lumps went on strike and never returned to the job. Growth was officially complete. It was time to cut my losses and enroll myself in the Itty Bitty Titty Committee.
Walking around parties and seeing girls filling out dresses my little ladies could never handle and being hit on by guys I thought were out of my league led me to believe that maybe implants would lead to a happier life. The only thing stopping me was the fact that my paycheck barely covered rent and Ramen for a month.
Toward the end of my sophomore year, I started seeing a guy who was the human equivalent of a demi-god — the type of guy who I would normally see chasing after girls with Victoria’s Secret Angel bodies. How strange of him to go after me.
After things ended with Hercules, I saw myself in a new light — and that had nothing to do with his approval of me. It was because I realized I never needed it. The people who really matter in life are those who look beyond the surface.
That was when I began to embrace my partners in crime i.e. my milkshakes, as rapper Kelis calls them.
Via: Align with Nature
A weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I was no longer ashamed of something I could not control. I decided to stop caring about the images that society places on billboards and TV shows. I am better than that because I am real.
Natalie Rella, a health promotion specialist at UF’s GatorWell Health Promotion Services, said that developing body confidence starts with changing your internal conversation.
In other words, we must reprogram our brains to understand that we were not put on this earth to look good for others. We have a bigger, less shallow purpose.
“My advice would be to begin to hear that inner gremlin telling you you’re not good enough, and tell it to shut up,” Rella said.
Rella challenges and encourages women to be critical of the media and to spend less time on looks and more time on what your body does for you every day.
According to surveys conducted by the National Eating Disorders Association, 70 percent of women ages 18 through 30, as well as 43 percent of men, said that they do not like their bodies.
It’s time to change these facts.
Via: Vibrant Women Project
Women are continually filling their head space with negative thoughts, trying to fit an image that society has molded for us. Why can’t we mold our own image? The beer-belly boys did it, so why not the members of the Itty Bitty Titty Committee and beyond?
I am not attacking women who have had breast augmentation or any other form of alteration because, just like with everything in life, there is a story behind every situation. I am simply saying that you should never alter your body to fit an image that isn’t one you choose for yourself.
Before you try to change your body, you should first learn to embrace it for what it is.
So ladies, love your milkshakes. Don’t ever feel embarrassed or ashamed by the size of your boobs, your lips, your thigh gap or lack thereof, or anything else. Don’t ever feel like you need to change for the approval of others.
Sorry, world. We don’t need to be sorry.
Feature photo courtesy of: Get a Life UK
