Love Your Body

"Hollywood and the fashion, cosmetics and diet industries work hard to make each of us believe that our bodies are unacceptable and need constant improvement."

 The Love Your Body Campaign is a movement I am newly aware of. The idea is to promote self-confidence and awareness that pictures we see do not have to be a goal.

 Acknowledging most advertisements, it is a real shame that you cannot always believe your own eyes. For years, many images of celebrities have been "touched-up" for display, even against their will. Here you will find a list entitled "Most Blatant Uses of Photoshop in Magazines Ads" which shows side by side comparisons of the images we have been served up & the same thing in true actuality. Most recently there has been a cry of outrage from plus size model Crystal Renn who's photos were retouched drastically, belittling all that she stands for.

Dove has a popular time-lapse video that shows the transition a picture makes before it is displayed. The video is a part of their Campaign for Real Beauty aimed at making the world more aware of the impact advertisements have on women and young girls & showing them they are beautiful as they are.

I'd like to include a wonderful collection of pictures by Danny Santos II and say it's alright to feel self-conscious now & then but consider, without evidence, this is the one life you will have. One body for the rest of your life and from the moment you enter this world, you are uniquely beautiful.

To conclude, this is a quote I have come across several times on the internet. I have yet to see an origin. 

"Find a guy who calls you beautiful instead of hot, who calls you back when you hang up on him, who will lie under the stars and listen to your heartbeat, or will stay awake just to watch you sleep... wait for the boy who kisses your forehead, who wants to show you off to the world when you are in sweats, who holds your hand in front of his friends, who thinks you' re just as pretty without makeup on. One who is constantly reminding you of how much he cares and how lucky he is to have YOU... The one who turns to his friends and says, "thats her"....

-Unknown (Website)