‘This morning I got some horrible news: ‘Models who aren’t a size 0 are called plus size.’ My body isn’t risky or brave, it’s normal.’: Woman learns lesson on body positivity, ‘I realized it’ll take more than 30 days to do’

“Around 30 days ago, I said I would make it my mission to spend 30 days working on body acceptance. When the 30 days were up, I got some horrible news. So, I went for a walk and thought about my life and what those 30 days meant to me.

I realized, as a society, we are scared of turning 30 because there’s pressure to have ‘made it’ by then. Because 30 is when your body changes and your face changes. Things change biologically.

I realized youth is considered the definition of beauty.

Models who aren’t a size 0 are called plus size, instead of just models. Most of the used ‘plus size’ models have thin faces and small waists.

There’s still a ways to go in society, in the media, and the beauty industry, in accepting all sizes and measurements as beautiful.

I realized muscles make me masculine and a fitness freak, whereas extra weight makes me lazy, and thinness makes me hungry. And those who comment don’t truly care about your health.

I realized even when my body was a child’s body, old white men exploited it.

It is hard to have a woman’s body. It is hard to be a woman.

I realized I don’t give a f*ck about stereotypes. And every time I say it out loud — or listen to someone else saying it — I give permission for my body and other bodies to do the same. So it’s important we keep that message.

I realized trying to look like a magazine photo is exhausting and hard work, but makes me appear normal. Feeling normal and relaxed makes me appear like I’m losing it.

Even skin conditions you have no control over will have people asking you questions about your ability to ‘keep yourself.’

I realized a woman can give birth and be deemed unattractive afterwards, because her body shows the mark of it.

I realized we have spent so many years being brainwashed every day about what we ‘should be,’ that to take a step outside of that is risky or brave.

I don’t want my body to be risky or brave. I want to be another form of normality.

I want to be normal.

I want to love myself for who I am inside, rather than who I am outside.

And I realized, it’ll take more than 30 days to do.

But I’ll keep trying.”

This story was submitted to Love What Matters by Laura Mazza. Follow Laura on Instagram here. Do you have a similar experience? We’d like to hear your important journey. Submit your own story here. Be sure to subscribe to our free email newsletter for our best stories, and YouTube for our best videos.

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