If you're an avid online or print magazine reader you are no stranger to the news of Kim Kardashian and Kate Middleton's highly publicized pregnancies.
For months, fans and media have debated who looked better pregnant, who looked more fashionable pregnant and some have even gone as far to debate if Kate was too thin and Kim was too fat to be pregnant. Two women that for years have been portrayed by the media as the "American Woman's Dream" are now facing scrutiny because of their weights, their pregnancy weights. Amazing.
So what exactly does it mean to be too fat and or too skinny in today's society? Is this definition based on the sizes of the world's most famous actresses and models? Is there a weight requirement floating around the Internet or the world that I somehow overlooked? Now, don't get me wrong -- I am a strong advocate for living a healthy and fit lifestyle; however, how a woman looks doesn't always dictate how healthy she is. We're all different and we shouldn't embrace those differences by comparing ourselves to other women around us and wishing we were them. Instead, we should be able to look in the mirror and be willing to love not only the person staring back at us but love the skin we are in.
I know it's not particularly easy to just wake up one morning and suddenly love who you are, especially if no one has ever encouraged you as a woman to do so but, it's relatively easy. Michael Jackson had a song years ago that said: "I'm starting with the man in the mirror. I'm asking him to change his ways." I'm sure Michael had no idea how inspiring and motivating those few words would someday be but we should all take heed to Michael's advice especially as women. From one woman to another woman I encourage you to start with the woman in the mirror. Look in the mirror daily and tell yourself that you're beautiful. Don't wait for society to tell you something you should be telling yourself on a daily basis. Years ago I took the initiative to write my own personal mission statement to remind me of who I am on days I lost my direction. If writing down on a sheet of paper telling yourself how beautiful you are works, do it. Do whatever it takes to love yourself rather big, small, light, dark, short or tall you owe it to yourself.
The standard you set for yourself as a woman today will pave the way for the girls of tomorrow. As women the time is now to stand up for you. Our society teaches us that we must look a certain way (pregnant or not) in order to be accepted as beautiful. Society teaches us this yet I am a firm believer that if you can't love who you are in your own skin what makes you think you'll love yourself in someone else's?