Last week, (April 6, 2015), Lane Bryant launched a campaign called, #ImNoAngel in Manhattan. The campaign appeals to plus-sized women. Unlike Victoria’s Secret, this caters to women sizes 14 to 28. “The campaign features a video of six lingerie-clad women, including talking about what makes them feel sexy. “It’s all about how you feel,” one model says”. (Jennifer Swann, TakePart’s culture and lifestyle reporter)
“Our brand has begun to change the conversation of traditional notions of beauty, and we are excited to break the mold of how society defines sexy,” said Lane Bryant president and chief executive officer Linda Heasley” (David Moin, wwd.com)
This topic talks about being sexy. It then led me to my question of who is beautiful? What is beautiful? The society has defined it and dictated what we should aim to look like. As a result, some people who have the money resort to surgery to change their looks. Some want to be super skinny and aim a “perfect” body. Some use all kinds of whitening products to look fairer and flawless (common in Asian countries). For those who can not look like it, they begin to feel very self conscious or maybe have a low self esteem/perception of self. They may think they are less beautiful/sexy or not beautiful/sexy at all. There is nothing wrong in trying to improve oneself, doing your best to look beautiful. Beauty makes life more wonderful. It is how the society/media defines who and what is beautiful. I guess we just have to include/represent everyone. I hope the social media will continuously help promote self acceptance and uplift the spirit of all people, to let them realize that they are beautiful regardless of the past, sizes, colors, clothes they wear, and accessories they own.
As parents, we have the responsibility to remind our children what real beauty is. We do not want them to be enslaved by vanity. Now a song is playing in my head. I would like to share it with you:
Beautiful
Everyday is so wonderful
Then suddenly
It’s hard to breathe
Now and then I get insecure
From all the pain
I’m so ashamed
I am beautiful
No matter what they say
Words can’t bring me down
I am beautiful
In every single way
Yes words can’t bring me down
Oh no
So don’t you bring me down today
To all your friends you’re delirious
So consumed
In all your doom, ooh
Trying hard to fill the emptiness
The pieces gone
Left the puzzle undone
Ain’t that the way it is
You’re beautiful
No matter what they say
Words can’t bring you down
Oh no
You’re beautiful
In every single way
Yes words can’t bring you down
Oh no
So don’t you bring me down today
No matter what we do (no matter what we do)
No matter what we say (no matter what we say)
We’re the song inside the tune (yeah, oh yeah)
Full of beautiful mistakes
And everywhere we go (and everywhere we go)
The sun will always shine (the sun will always, always, shine)
And tomorrow we might awake
On the other side
We’re beautiful
No matter what they say
Yes words won’t bring us down
Oh no
We are beautiful
In every single way
Yes words can’t bring us down
Oh no
So don’t you bring me down today
Oh, oh
Don’t you bring me down today
Don’t you bring me down, ooh
Today
K.Lazaro 
Great song and awesome thoughts. They say ” beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” but I feel we should say beauty is in our hearts and souls.
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Thanks dear! Yes it goes both ways it is in our heart and soul. And the other person sees not just the outside but inside.
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Society imposes its standards of beauty because beauty is a huge business generating billions if not trillions in money. It’s all about making people feel inadequate with the way that they look so that they will do anything in order to alter their looks according to what is regarded as being beautiful in the era or society that they live. It’s all about vanity, narcissism and ego and basically is a trap or chain set by consumerism. The truth is that beauty comes from within and that outer beauty is superficial and ephemeral. Those who worry too much about beauty or rely on it lead very miserable lives. Those who transcend it and fully accept how they are, are the happiest people in the world and the richest inside.
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You are full of wisdom. I honestly love hearing your comments!!!
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Maybe…but this is a really negative way of looking at the beauty industry. We have natural ideas of what beauty is, so even without them we would feel inadequate. They don’t cause feelings of inadequacy, but they certainly perpetuate/increase them.
I don’t think it’s fair to say that they’re manipulating people into feeling inadequate. I think we naturally feel inadequate at a certain point in our lives, and that’s why the beauty industry is so successful. Correlation doesn’t mean causation.
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Hmmm something to ponder!
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Yea. I think it’s always beneficial to look at both opposing sides of something. That way you have a holistic view of what’s going on 🙂
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You are correct about that. But part of me believes that the media is still partly responsible in shaping the people’s thoughts about beauty. They should represent “beautiful” in all its aspects, in all its forms. We are not only talking about the girls who are size 2, the “fashionistas” and others. You know what I mean? : )
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Oh yes, of course. And I agree. I just think that they’re not entirely to blame. We may have those insecurities, but it’s kind of our job to figure out who we are and how to love ourselves. I agree that they’re not helping. But I don’t think that they’re as evil as some people make them out to be. It’s like the fast food industry and obesity…yes, they’re providing the means to get to the point of obesity, but we as individuals are making the choice to eat it! I think they’re no more to blame than their customers. Because they can show us size-2 women and muscular men all they want, but if we refuse to buy into that (as many people do), then they have no power. But I definitely understand what you’re saying. They’re certainly not helping matters.
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: )
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