This story might be hard, but the message is important and impossible to ignore.
Through this article, you will see amazing photography by Peter DeVito. Having suffered from acne all his life, Peter knows firsthand the stigma attached to having bad skin. In fact, some time ago, he couldn’t even share a photo of himself online without photoshopping it first. Now he’s basing his entire career on doing the precise opposite. “I’d been seeing a lot of posts about body positivity and self-acceptance on social media but there was a lack of visibility for people with acne. So I wanted to create posts for them. I want people to realize that getting acne is normal and that it is nothing to be ashamed of.”
The fact is, people, judge you, and they assume certain things based on how you look.
Pre-judgment is our only self-preservation. We are constantly verifying everything.
I was constantly comparing myself to others, and I felt inferior because I didn’t measure up to the conventional ideas of beauty.
You will always be too fat, too skinny, too tall, too this and that, when you compare yourself to others. You will always be “too something” when you play the comparison game. Know that you are exactly what you’re supposed to be — one of a kind and beautiful.
When you stop comparing, you will realize that no part of your body is any less beautiful than someone else’s just because it’s shorter, longer, flatter, or bigger.
People that haven’t seen me for months instead of saying “hi”, they will look at me and say confidently “Oh my god, how much you gained”. I cannot explain what trauma comes after such comments. It is a constant battle of what and when you should eat, calories, this and that … You end up not enjoying the food, you eat too much, you are obsessed… It is a dangerous mind game.
Before I continue, please watch the video below if you have not seen it until now. Even though, it is highly probable you have because it goes around the internet since 2015.
I started wearing makeup because of one pimple. People are mean, they will look at you and shoot comments without even thinking about the damage they might cause.
“You are not pretty enough, you are not skinny enough, you are not..” — the message that you get every day. I feel like in society there is some sort of criteria about everything. You should be pretty, but not to wear makeup. You should be skinny, but not too much. Have a nice, athletic body. Be tall, but not too much. Be this, be that, but not too much.
If you looked into different cultures at different times, you would see that people had (and still have) different ideas of beauty. Some like curvy, some like skinny, some like tall, and some like short.
The definition of beauty as we know it is just the opinion of one person or group of people. It’s just so happened that this opinion got popularized.
If you don’t fit their definition of beauty, does it mean you’re any less beautiful? Absolutely not. Don’t let the ever-changing opinions of others affect how you feel about yourself.
I would say the ones that go through being criticized by everything and everybody are victims. And the one that gives mean labels is the abuser.
Be aware, educate yourself, and others of acceptance. We are all different and beautiful.
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”
My hope is that every person feels beautiful and good in his or her own skin. Do not look for approval on social media.
YOU ARE ART & YOU ARE ENOUGH!
