Beauty Standards

I was wandering the forums on MFP the other day, and I saw a post from this woman asking if she could still be beautiful if she doesn't shave. The responses were to be expected, "Of course! Beauty comes from the inside!" or "Beautiful? Yes. Sexy? No." or "It's just not my thing..."

I wanted to reply with this:

The standard of what our society things is beautiful is fucked up. While it's true, beauty comes from the inside, you yourself have to feel that beauty before anyone else can call you beautiful. The fact that you have to ask tells me you don't consider yourself to be beautiful. People need to radiate confidence within themselves, because ultimately being confidant and not being ashamed of your body is what makes both men and women beautiful.

In the winter months, I'm not going to waste time shaving my legs every other day, hell no! Then they get all dry and itchy, it's just not worth it since I'm wearing pants all the time. When I go to the gym, I notice other women's legs (and everywhere overall) are very clean shaven and (appear to be) smooth. Then there's me, little Miss Aimee, aka Man Legs. I work it though, I know it ultimately doesn't matter whether I'm clean shaven or prickly. Who gives a doodle?!

The men and women we see in magazines and on billboards aren't real. They're photoshopped images, made to fit todays mold of beauty. NEVER compare yourself to them. They're art.