Most of you seemed to agree that beauty radiates from confidence. You can’t put confidence on your face in the morning. You can’t buy confidence at the mall. It’s something that comes from somewhere within. Beautiful clothes, great hair, and perfect make-up are just placebos that create confidence in women. We’re so convinced that we need them to look good.
A huge part of getting myself into a bikini this summer is going to be developing the confidence in my body to strut my stuff poolside. The kind of confidence that comes from something other than these placebos. To me, this is going to be a bigger challenge than eating well and exercising.
Here were some of my favourite comments:
Sophie @ YumventuresIn my mind, it’s not to do with attractiveness, but rather how you hold yourself and your confidence. If a girl is confident she can be wearing sweats and a hoodie and she will still turn heads. Whereas I’ve seen some girls completely dolled up who look miserable and it makes them seem unattractive, even if they are conventionally beautiful.
Erin @ The Healthy ApronI think you should do whatever makes you feel happiest and confident.
Sarah
I’m sure some might say it’s problematic to have your sense of self worth connected to your appearance, but I’d say it’s only problematic if your sense of self worth is ONLY tied to your appearance.
Kenzie @ A Healthy PurposeNobody wants to be vain to think that looking good is important but it does make me feel better about myself too. . . I’d say it’s worth the effort to feel better, but it doesn’t make it any easier.
There’s a great 2 part series at Eat the Damn Cake that talks about body image which is so well written I think it should be required reading for all women and girls. Take a look here and here .
Here are my favourite quotes from this post:
. . .I’ve found great liberation on shifting my efforts at self-improvement from my body to my career, my relationships, my life skills. Does this mean I don’t care at all about being beautiful anymore? No, of course not. I live the real world, where beauty matters. But there’s a big difference between caring, and caring too much. And while this difference is bound to be subjectively defined, I’d say that nearly every woman I know could probably afford to care less.. . . my self-assurance is greater than it used to be, and this is mostly because it’s no longer tethered exclusively to how I feel about my looks on any given day. There are other, more unchanging things that anchor my sense of self. . . My looks are a part of that that sense, tooI can’t remove them altogether, and wouldn’t want tobut they aren’t at the heart of it.In some ways, there’s almost as much pressure nowadays for us to love our looks as there is for us to be beautiful. Flip through a beauty magazine, and you’ll find weight loss ads flanked by articles on self-acceptance and confidence. Not only must we look pristine, but if we happen not to, we must love ourselves anyway. It’s all a bit much.
Yesterday I wore bright red pumps to work in a vain attempt to feel a bit sexier. I didn’t. But maybe that’s just because there is nothing too sexy about working in a cubicle with no one to talk to.
( source )
Wow, thanks for all your amazingly insightful comments on my thoughts about whether or not a person’s beauty routine has an influence on their happiness .
Most of you seemed to agree that beauty radiates from confidence. You can’t put confidence on your face in the morning. You can’t buy confidence at the mall. It’s something that comes from somewhere within. Beautiful clothes, great hair, and perfect make-up are just placebos that create confidence in women. We’re so convinced that we need them to look good.
A huge part of getting myself into a bikini this summer is going to be developing the confidence in my body to strut my stuff poolside. The kind of confidence that comes from something other than these placebos. To me, this is going to be a bigger challenge than eating well and exercising.
Here were some of my favourite comments:
Sophie @ Yumventures In my mind, it’s not to do with attractiveness, but rather how you hold yourself and your confidence. If a girl is confident she can be wearing sweats and a hoodie and she will still turn heads. Whereas I’ve seen some girls completely dolled up who look miserable and it makes them seem unattractive, even if they are conventionally beautiful. Erin @ The Healthy Apron I think you should do whatever makes you feel happiest and confident. Sarah I’m sure some might say it’s problematic to have your sense of self worth connected to your appearance, but I’d say it’s only problematic if your sense of self worth is ONLY tied to your appearance. Kenzie @ A Healthy Purpose Nobody wants to be vain to think that looking good is important but it does make me feel better about myself too. . . I’d say it’s worth the effort to feel better, but it doesn’t make it any easier.There’s a great 2 part series at Eat the Damn Cake that talks about body image which is so well written I think it should be required reading for all women and girls. Take a look here and here .
Here are my favourite quotes from this post:
. . .I’ve found great liberation on shifting my efforts at self-improvement from my body to my career, my relationships, my life skills. Does this mean I don’t care at all about being beautiful anymore? No, of course not. I live the real world, where beauty matters. But there’s a big difference between caring, and caring too much. And while this difference is bound to be subjectively defined, I’d say that nearly every woman I know could probably afford to care less. . . . my self-assurance is greater than it used to be, and this is mostly because it’s no longer tethered exclusively to how I feel about my looks on any given day. There are other, more unchanging things that anchor my sense of self. . . My looks are a part of that that sense, tooI can’t remove them altogether, and wouldn’t want tobut they aren’t at the heart of it. In some ways, there’s almost as much pressure nowadays for us to love our looks as there is for us to be beautiful. Flip through a beauty magazine, and you’ll find weight loss ads flanked by articles on self-acceptance and confidence. Not only must we look pristine, but if we happen not to, we must love ourselves anyway. It’s all a bit much.Yesterday I wore bright red pumps to work in a vain attempt to feel a bit sexier. I didn’t. But maybe that’s just because there is nothing too sexy about working in a cubicle with no one to talk to.