With all of the pressures from society on how females should look, it is easy to get wrapped up in a cycle of self-criticism, looking at parts of our bodies and most of the time just finding something we don’t like and see as an imperfection. The truth is that most women have something about their bodies that they don’t like. That’s fine; nobody’s perfect and its fine to want to improve ourselves. But, equally, we need to be honest and not start comparing ourselves to unrealistic examples of ‘the perfect woman’. Here are some examples of common complaints that really are not worth the worry.
1 – Cellulite. This one is the major bugbear for many women. We get it; it doesn’t look great. But guess what? Statistically, it’s been shown that 90% of women suffer from cellulite. It’s not a sign that you’re overweight or need to work on your legs and bum. Cellulite gets deposited in all manner of places and it also affects men.
2 – Scars. Find someone who says they have no scars and you’ll find someone who has lived a boring life. Not only do most people have some sort of scar, whether it be from a scraped knee as a child or an operation in adulthood, they are considered by a lot of people to be a sign of character. If you’re still here, a scar is a sign of your strength and something that took you on… and lost.
3 – Fat on your sides and abdomen. Unfortunately, society has once again done an absolute number on women so they panic when they see the slightest sign of love handles. Doctors have even reported that women are so desperate to lose this abdominal fat that they end up missing periods, losing sleep and suffering malnutrition, despite the fact women are supposed to store a little fat around the mid section for fertility and health.
4 – Laughter lines and crow’s feet. First, there is nothing wrong with putting some moisturising cream on your face to keep your skin fresh and soft. But the chances are that you will, at some point, develop laughter lines around the corner of your mouth and crow’s feet around the eyes. Not only are they a fact of life, they are also more prevalent in people who smile and laugh more. If you’re seeing them earlier on, then congratulations on having lived a fun and enjoyable life. They’re absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.
5 – Larger hips. Women will spend all day trying to get themselves stick thin, and conversely, women spend an absolute age in the gym trying to get the ideal ‘bubble butt’ and big hips! We all know that women tend to have bigger hips on average and there is nothing we can do about how they are proportioned. This is totally different, by the way, from fat around the mid-section, which is also fine. Don’t be ashamed of the fact you have healthy, larger hips.
6 – Grey hair. This is one of those annoying double standards. A grey haired woman will get all manner of insults thrown at her, whilst a grey haired man will get called a ‘silver fox’. How does that work? Most people will go grey later in life. If you want to dye your hair and maintain the same colour, that is absolutely fine; nobody is here to tell you what to do with your hair. But at the same time, don’t let anyone make you feel ashamed of your grey hair. Without much hard work, you can style your hair and look absolutely beautiful whether your hair is completely grey or not.