Yesterday I went into town to do a little shopping before I went to visit home for the weekend. I hadn't washed my hair or put on makeup since I figured I would stay home and do chores all day in preparation of my trip. I threw my hair up, put on some moisturizer, put on a casual outfit and headed out, just to kill some time. I went to all my normal stops, American Eagle, Ulta, and then I ended up at TjMaxx. I personally love TjMaxx. I'm one of those people who wears a certain item of clothing for a limited amount of time before it is either worn out or I get tired of it, so all my life I've been a bargain shopper; why spend a lot of money on something if you're attention span with it is only so long?
Anyway, I picked out a couple things to try on and headed toward the dressing room, which we all know can be a scary place. Not only is there several other women in there trying things on, but dressing rooms are so poorly lit so most of the time you come out with a shirt that you thought was solid white with red stripes when in actuality it's pale yellow with orange stripes.. But to my surprise, when I walked into the dressing room stall I was faced with a vanity lit, full length mirror to look at myself in.
It looked a lot like this: very bright and revealing. I felt like I was standing in front of those huge lights they use for filming.
I found myself just standing there for a few minutes, studying my face and half-naked body. I have never seen myself full bodied in front of a mirror like this and I was surprised...I was pleasantly surprised. I've never been all that comfortable going out with my hair not done or zero makeup on, and I had also skipped the gym for a solid three days in a row so I was kinda lacking in the confidence department. But as I looked in the mirror, so exposed and real, I really liked what I saw. I
looked so real. Like a woman.
*I know my granddad will read this so I'm not posting the half naked selfie..don't worry I'll paint a word picture.
I could see clearly my uneven skin tone all over my body that resulted from a skin condition that causes extremely dry skin patches that don't tan with the rest of my body. I could see clearly every mole on my belly and the way it pooched out a little because of my happy relationship and wholesome meals. I could see my shorts tan line and my short legs that have thickened from squats at the gym. I'm short, with a fairly short torso as well, so I don't look a whole lot like a runway model. My eyebrows weren't filled in, my lips naked and a bit chapped, not a drop of makeup on my skin, freckles littered my face. My dirty, naturally auburn hair was peeking through the bleach on top. I stood there and stared and admired it all. I could see every mole, flab, pooch, blemish and uneven skin patch on my body and I still felt more confident than I had all week..
I came out of the store feeling more confident than when I went in, and a lot of women know this a lot of times isn't the case. But I didn't feel discouraged at all, I felt empowered.
This is the direct result of positive body image marketing strategies. I'm sure you've heard of the bra and panty line Aerie? Aerie is the lingerie branch of American Eagle and their whole angle for marketing is not photoshopping their models in their advertisements while also choosing models that look like, I don't know, normal people(?). Meaning they use real, non-retouched women of all shapes and sizes to model their products, not just tall, long legged, thin women that have been digitally nipped and tucked to look even more unrealistic. When you want to order a size DD bra, you will actually see a woman that wears a DD modeling it. None of them are wearing too much makeup and their hair is natural.
Here is an example of one of Aerie's ads:
HOW GORGEOUS IS SHE?!
This ad positively affected me today. I am extremely critical of myself, as a lot of us are. But today I felt great trying clothes on, I thought, "wow I look like the girls in the Aerie ads." This marketing works, and if Aerie is trying to spread self-love and postitive body image, they are doing the right thing, because it's f*cking working. More women look like the girl above than a six foot stick-thin model, and that's totally okay. In this way, Aerie is appealing to a bigger demographic and eliminating the disappointment of getting the lingerie home and not looking exactly like the girl wearing it in the photo; which we as women have been conditioned through media to crave that body type so badly because it represents the perfect woman. Well guess what, you are already perfect it's just about time we all start realizing how perfect we are. Like I have said before, everyone is different and THAT IS OKAY. And everyone is beautiful, sexy, and 100% worth loving themselves. It really is tough to get to a point where you are happy with yourself in all aspects, thank you Aerie for helping me get to that point.
