Media Images

I posted this video to my Facebook page earlier today after watching it once. With that post I wrote "I feel like I do not often re-post videos unless I was truly moved by them in some way. This is one of them."

I have chosen to look at the positive side of life for years now and I honestly did not analyze this video anymore than my initial viewing. I got so tired of critiquing the media and all their faults long ago while I was in school, studying and doing exactly that.

Then an article about the video popped up on my newsfeed which you can read here about how there are flaws in this ad as far as who is depicted and focused on. I will be the first to admit that I did not even look at this video any deeper than the intended, most pure message that it was aiming to get across: women, you are more beautiful than you give yourself credit for. 

Is it that I am just that person who sees the bright side of things? Is it that I am naive? Is it that I am white? I am not sure that's it's any one of those reasons, nor is it not any of them. I am a person who has a sunnier deposition and outlook on life, I am also a little naive and I am white. Do all these things mean that I do not see the need to reflect the beauty of every woman and man, for that matter, of every race, sexual orientation, religion, age and nationality?! No.

Beauty is everywhere. It is all around us and it lives within each of us. The fact of the matter is that beauty is not about outward appearances. Beauty is about how we feel, act and present ourselves. The better I feel about who I am and what I stand for the more confident I am, even when I have no make-up on, my hair is a mess and I am in my sweat pants at the grocery store in search of a pint of Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey ice cream, because I feel like eating it while I watch a romantic comedy on a Saturday night!

As far as I'm concerned I'm still beautiful, because of the person I am. Is this not the message that we want everyone in the world to hear and understand and live into?! The media is just another reflection of you, me, us. I choose to watch this video and applaud the women who agreed to be filmed in a vulnerable position of completely re-framing their own self-image. I cannot imagine what that was actually like for them to experience. I also choose to watch this video and experience my own re-frame that I am beautiful.

Does the media still need to work on what they constantly portray to 'us' as beautiful? Sure. They are not aliens producing this stuff, they are people just like you and I. They are not perfect. Are we farther along on the quest of portraying real people as beautiful and not just models? Yes. Do we still have a ways to go? Yes. I am, however, extremely grateful that we are at least on the right track.