Women minds have been controlled by the media for decades. They show us images of women who sometimes go to unhealthy lengths in order to achieve their physique then tell us that we should look like those women, despite the fact that real women come in all different shapes, sizes, and body types.
This one-sided portrayal of women often leaves us with an unhealthy self-image and feelings of unworthiness.
But thanks to the recent body positivity movement, women no longer believe they have to conform to society’s standards of what a woman should look like.
Blogger Kirsten Bosly from Australia is one of those women. She ended up going viral after she stopped trying to hide her body up and decided to accept it.
It all started when she realized she left her shorts home while on a trip to the beach.
She used them to cover up when wearing a bathing suit and was upset that she left them until she realized that she was being her own worst enemy.
“I was standing on the beach, stressing out about it, and just had a moment of clarity when I realized the only person judging me in that moment was me,” Bosly told TODAY. “Nobody was paying me any attention and the only thing stopping me from just letting go and embracing myself fully was a bag full of hang-ups that I had created and chosen to carry around.”
It was at that moment that she decided to love and accept herself. She jumped on Facebook to talk about her epiphany as soon as she got home.
Here’s what she wrote:
“Today marks a new beginning for me. For most of my life I have hated my body. Despised it. Loathed it. Resented it. Wanted so very much for it to change; for it to be smaller, thinner… less ‘fat’. I’ve used it and abused it. I’ve blamed it for a lot of things,” Bosly explained.
“I’ve been terribly ashamed of its wobbles and dimples; like somehow they are the measure of who I am. I recently read a meme that said something along the lines of ‘be in pictures with your kids because when you’re gone, the pictures will be all they have left’ and it struck a nerve. I’ve avoided pictures most of the time as I disliked how I looked in them.”
But this would be the day that self-hatred ended for Bosly, she was OVER it.
“Not anymore! Bugger that noise! The truth is, I’m tired of being ashamed of my body; it’s done nothing but support me for 41 years. Lena Dunham is about to grace the cover of Glamour magazine with her ‘Girls’ co-stars and she insisted they not airbrush out the cellulite on her thighs,” Bosly wrote.
But why should a woman on the cover of a magazine, looking as she is, be something extraordinary?
“The magazine thinks this to be a revolutionary act; Lena thinks it’s just bloody normal and I agree. So today I let go. I let go of the hatred and resentment of this body of mine and chose to enjoy it for what it is; my body.”
So she decided to embrace herself in her bath suit, sans shorts.
“I asked The Pants to take this photo so the kids will remember us enjoying this day together, cellulite and all. No cover-up. No board shorts. No “modesty” towel,” she said. “No filters. Just us. And you know what? I’m not ashamed. Really. I look at this photo and all I can see is how happy we are and that’s awesome. I finally feel free and it feels fucking awesome!”
Amen sister! Women come in all shapes and sizes and it’s time we start valuing what’s on the inside instead of the outside!
Bosly ended up going viral because of her post which inspired hundreds of women around the world to love and embrace their bodies.
“You are amazing! I too have ‘struggled’, ‘battled’, been put down, chastised, mentally abused by myself and others about my weight,” said one Facebooker.”Am tired of the fight. It’s now about being fit and healthy, being kind and compassionate. You go girl!”
There are so many women out there who do not love themselves and spend an extraordinary amount of time fighting themselves over it. I hope more women will take Bosly’s lead and learn to let it go.
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