Six packs are for cans

Hey, did you hear about the time the fashion magazine showed a real woman’s body? And did you hear that, despite what some fashion editors might think, the world did not stop spinning because her perceived imperfections weren’t Photoshopped out? In fact, did you hear that instead of revolting in disgust, the readers rejoiced? I know, I know – sounds like an urban legend. But, unlike that gerbil thing, this actually happened.

Glamour’s September issue has been causing quite a stir, not because of its cover story on Jessica Simpson or feature on “331 Sexy Looks You Can Afford!” But instead the clamor is for a simple photo on Page 194. It’s a photo of a beautiful young woman with a big, wonderfully confident smile and a small, totally normal stomach pooch.

Many things are extraordinary about this photo because of, ironically, its very ordinariness. This is a woman with a stomach that looks like what so many of us see when we look in the mirror. Yet we are all taken aback because we have been so conditioned to expect so-called perfection in the glossy pages of magazines. For reference see Kelly Clarkson. See Faith Hill. See any beautiful woman that somehow wasn’t quite beautiful enough to be shown how she really looks, untouched and unaltered.

Glamour has been flooded with positive comments on the photo, as they should be. The editor and lovely young model, Lizzi Miller, appeared on the Today show earlier this week. But our visceral reaction to this image only serves to underscore a sad truth about our culture. We have been made to feel so badly about ourselves by images that are utterly unattainable that when we see something real, it shocks us. And we are moved.

Our minds are like our bodies: what you feed them matters. If we only ever ingest a diet of impossibly thin, incredibly perfect junk imagery it starts to corrode our egos. It clogs our confidence. And, before you know it, our hearts are hardened to the fact that women are beautiful in all shapes and sizes, colors and creeds.

Make no mistake, this is what they want. The beauty industry isn’t about making women feel beautiful. It’s about making us feel so horrible about ourselves for not being beautiful that we buy whatever they are selling. Making us hate who we are is a billion-dollar industry. Even Glamour, who I whole-heartedly applaud for featuring Lizzi, has a headline on the cover of that same issue that screams: “3 Flat Belly Secrets!” Two steps forward, one step back.

We all want to look our best and be healthy. But loving who we are, flaws and all, is a life-long project made harder by the messages we are bombarded with every day. Firmer. Smoother. Younger. Thinner. Right now, think of three things you don’t like about your body and then three things you love about your body. Those first three came easier, didn’t they? Now fuck those first three things. Because only those last three things matter. We are as beautiful as we feel. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.