This Is NOT What Female Empowerment Looks Like

I’m going to assume we’ve all seen the scene in Mean Girls where Tina Fey told us we have to stop calling other women “bitches” and “sluts” because it makes it ok for men to do it too? Well that goes for body shaming too.

The body positivity, fat acceptance movement is pretty strong at the moment which is something that makes me INCREDIBLY happy, to see so many happy, confident women being unashamedly true to themselves is by far the most empowering thing I have ever seen. Work that confidence!

However, there does seem to be some kind of weird backlash to this, where some women have taken this wrong way and twisted it into something it’s not. I am seeing more and more pictures like the one above circulating on social media, as well as one’s saying things like “real women have curves”. No. Stop. Now. Empowerment and body positivity is about recognising that there is no cookie cutter idea of beauty. The female form fucking slays in every shape and size, and although there are different TYPES of beautiful they are all equal. By belittling women who are thin or have a thigh gap or fake boobs or any other fucking body part you are body shaming, which is equally as problematic as fat shaming.

And don’t get me fucking started on the audacity of talking about someone else’s vagina in a derogatory fashion. A female’s worth is not measured by how nice and tight her vagina is for a man to fuck. Some women don’t have vaginas and that’s fucking cool too.

Let’s try a little exercise to remind ourselves that everyone is beautiful. Find a crowded place, find five women. Now, I fucking defy you to not be able to find at least 3 features to fall in love with. Whether it’s the way her butt wiggles in her jeans when she walks, the way her hair shines a thousand different colours in the sun, her tiny little canine teeth which make her fiercely feline, the way her ears are slightly pointed that make her elfin and ethereal, the way she carries herself and her business like a fucking boss, the way her smile radiates inner confidence, how the lines around her eyes show a lifetime of laughter or how her scars show the battles she has lived and survived.

Now apply this to yourself, find 3, no 5, no 10 things about yourself you’re really really proud of, hold you head up high, and know, deep down, right in your soul, that you can love yourself and love others too.