I Feel Pretty… a Movie of Inspiration and Self-Love
Body image, intelligence, attractiveness, financial security. These are some reasons why both men and women put themselves down on a daily basis. How and why do we feel a need to criticize ourselves? Are we comparing ourselves to friends, strangers, acquaintances?
Do we really care what other people think about us? Well, I most certainly did when I grew into my teenage years. Twiggy was my role model. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Twiggy, she was an anorexic-looking model who was 5’6”, 110 lb, and had measurements of 31”-23”-32”. She was known for her androgynous image. In other words, she had small breasts, a tiny waist, and no hips, for a woman.
When Twiggy was a young model, every teenage girl I knew wanted to be “stick thin” like her. Well, unfortunately, some of us were considerably taller than 5’6” and weighed more, but according to society, attractiveness was measured against Twiggy’s physique.
Both my sister and I were quite tall for our age and needed to carry more weight than Twiggy. Weight Watchers was popular when I was in my teens and my sister wanted to lose weight, so I joined, to keep her company. Neither one of us was overweight, but we wanted a body like the models so we started dieting. When I joined Weight Watchers I was at the perfect weight for my height, yet WW allowed me to join and lose 25 pounds. That meant, when I was done keeping my sister company, I was 25 pounds below goal weight.
Reflecting back on that first diet, I realize now that I have been striving to look like Twiggy my entire life. I never realized what a wonderful body I had back them because I was always comparing myself to the models of the times.
It wasn’t until a few years ago when my best friend from 3rd grade told me about how jealous she was when we went out… all the guys would “cat call” or whistle when we walked by. I always thought they were appreciating her exotic beauty and she thought it was my long, thin legs they were admiring. Funny how my perception was so different from hers, especially when I never felt thin enough, attractive enough, short enough… good enough.
I Feel Pretty is a movie about a single woman who dreams of being thin and pretty. One day, her dream comes true and she sees her image as perfect. Since she believes she is exactly the way she wants to be, she acts the part. No longer does she feel “out of place” in the world. She now “fits in” and portrays herself with a different persona.
Confidence, self-acceptance, pride are words that describe her new outlook on life. Belief in herself caused others to gravitate to her like never before. Friendships, business partnerships, and a romantic interest were now hers for the taking...she’d achieved her dream.
I would highly recommend watching this movie if you struggle with any self image issues. It’s delightfully humorous, yet profoundly accurate. The message of believing in yourself is truly inspiring!
Blessings Embraced:
Seeing ourselves from a positive perspective and facilitate change
It's important to believe in and accept ourselves
Affirmation: I love and accept myself for who I am
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