little bitty girl

It's a funny industry that I work in. I am often torn by the superficiality of it all and yet I am still in it. I sincerely believe that many of us who are in it and are not "supermodels" (the tiny percentage that are in the world) are constantly grapling with the reality and non-reality of it. I remember living my teenage years here and flicking through magazines, thinking,"Wow! I cannot really relate with any of these rules by which people define beauty by."

And yet, during the times when my company had to hire models, (it was mainly I who was doing this part) that I could be so utterly critical of what I would consider beautiful. In my defense, I always liked to pick girls who people who would not conventionally be consider a "beauty", such as Alex Wek. Yet, I cannot deny that when it comes to someone where their trade is strictly their physical beauty that I am as critical as they come.

When it comes to us "normal" girls though, we have a really hard time defining what we consider beautiful about ourselves. Asked to name anything we could change about ourselves and be prepared to sit down for at least half an hour while we extoll on the tiniest "flaws". Ask the same person to name what they consider their beauty and you will most likely be sitting twice as long for an answer. It's funny how guys never have "Does my butt look fat in these pants" conversations.

I've realized this when I had someone ask me on a road trip. I immediately answered my personality but that was soon shouted down saying that we had to name something physical. After about half an hour, I came up with my skin and my smile. Everyone groaned at the fact that it took me so long as that should have been so obvious. And yet when the same question was posed to them, they too had a hard time defining it when to me, their physical beauty was as obvious as the nose on their faces. I think that as women, we're taught to have false hubris. We're always supposed to deflect any compliments for the fear of being "too proud." I was always told by my brothers that it didn't matter how gorgeous I was if I was as dumb as a box and was a mean human being. I still live by those rules because beauty is only skin deep and after it all melts away, it's the beauty that we are as a human beings that stands the test of time.

Yet, I think we should learn to embrace whatever physical beauty that we have as well. I don't care what you say but I truly believe everyone in the world has some, if we all look for it. In hindsight, my answer to the question asked should have come much quicker. I am not unaware that I have been blessed with immaculate skin. I have been to beauty counters looking to test makeup and salespeople have refused to let me try any, after discovering that the skin I walk around in every day is literally untouched. Stefan has always called my smile my secret weapon. I think it's because it's so big and unexpected. It literally shocks people. I have had several a guy fall off a bike when I flashed a smile at him. Even so, there is a part of me that feels that it's not my right to say,"I have great skin." or "I have a great smile."

So my challenge to you all this Friday, (girls mainly but some guys too) is to look in the mirror and say two physical traits that you think is beautiful about yourself and embrace it.