beauty

“She wins who calls herself beautiful and challenges the world to change to truly see her.” - Naomi Wolf

Happily Flat-Chested in This Boobs-Obsessed World
I am a downright flat-chested girl who really has zero blessing in her chest department. You know those kinds of girls who call themselves flat just because they are an A cup? Well, I can’t even remember that last time I could fully fill up an A cup bra. On top of that, I can confidently assure you that there are less than five people who are flatter than or as flat as I am among all the people that I know.
By Judy Mae7 years ago in Viva
Body Positivity - The Horseshoe Phenomena
So I haven't written anything in awhile even though there's at least four topics waiting to be explored and one is more controversial than the other.
By Maura Dudas7 years ago in Viva
Show Me How You Burlesque
When the movie Burlesque came out with Cher and Christina Aguilera, I couldn't stop watching. I was transfixed by the music, the flawless makeup, and the glittering costumes. However, I was raised in a religious home and to me it all seemed so inappropriate and taboo. But I couldn't stop watching it!
By Kyrsta Morehouse7 years ago in Viva
Bea-Utiful
The word "beautiful" is such an amazing adjective, but it's more than a word. It describes many feelings and actions, but it all starts within yourself. When someone calls you beautiful, do you feel that you are? Or do you feel validated? When you feel beautiful, you feel like you accept yourself with who you are and what you do. You love yourself. You have that control. On the other side, when you feel validated you go based off what others tell you. You need to be accepted by others. You crave for positive opinions from everyone but yourself.
By Lesley Neomi7 years ago in Viva
Beauty Is in the Definition
Beauty by definition: a combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight
By Anna Rose8 years ago in Viva
Why Are We Obsessed with Being Beautiful?
Ever since I was a little girl, I was taught—directly and indirectly—that women are supposed to be beautiful. Our role models as little girls were beautiful princesses who men sought and loved. They had everything we crave: the perfect face, the perfect life, the perfect guy.
By Sarah Ahmed8 years ago in Viva
Dear Body
Dear body, I’m sorry that I’ve spent the last twelve years hating you. I’m sorry that I would beg to be someone else. I would look in the mirror every morning in my adolescence years tearing you apart, begging for a miracle to occur where my appearance changed completely. I’m sorry that I would grab you and squish you trying to photoshop the fat away in my mind. I was surrounded by beautiful women and girls all the time. I was angry that my body wasn’t as gorgeous as theirs. At the ripe age of eleven I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I hated you even more body. I hated that you couldn’t do your job without the help of a pill. I hated that you weren’t going to survive without a pill. I hated you. I spent hours in the mirror covering every freckle and mole. Trying to erase my identity and who I was. The stretch marks that told the story of how I grew and how I was growing were ugly and I resented them. The pink stripes covering my body were a sign of hatred to me, many hours were spent trying to cover every single one up. I would hide you wearing my father's clothes that swallowed me, not wanting to be seen. I would refuse to shop because of you, begging not to go. The clothes I liked no longer fit, and the fashion industry was still stuck in their size zero mindset. I always thought that because of you I was never going to be loved. Who would want someone so fat? I thought I didn’t deserve love. I always wanted someone else to stare back at me through the mirror, but my biggest fear was what if I would hate them too.
By Ren S8 years ago in Viva
I Encourage the Big Chop!
Natural is beautiful. It took me a long while to finally accept my natural hair as beautiful. I was always trying to conform to society's standards of what beautiful was; the black girl with the straightest and longest hair. I had to overcome my low self-esteem if I wanted to dive into the natural hair world. I was always so self-conscious about whether it would be too nappy or too big. After watching numerous videos about naturally curly hair, I never realized how much I was damaging my hair until recently. I was empowered by watching the naturalistas embrace their big, beautiful hair and decided that it was time for a change and that I was ready to really "embrace" my curls!
By Genesis Ewell8 years ago in Viva
'But Boys Like Long Hair Better' and Why I Don't Care
I remember going to see the movie Tangled when it first came out. Being an avid fairy-tale and Disney lover I was so excited when my step-mother and grandmother took me to see it in theaters. Everyone knows Rapunzel by her signature never-ending blonde locks—she is seen as a beautiful princess. There was a scene in the movie though where Eugene, the "prince" of the story, takes a jagged shard of glass and chops off all of Rapunzel's beautiful hair, leaving her with a short brunette chin-length bob. It was at this point in the movie where two thoughts entered my mind.
By Patience Arianna8 years ago in Viva
Always, Always, Always Cute
I have never received a free ANYTHING from any non-family member man unless my friends got it for me. No one has ever stopped my entire friend group to talk to me, and I have never been asked to dance out anywhere at all, alone or otherwise. My face isn't memorable or show-stopping, and I learned very early on to be OK with that. But everyone in my doesn't quite get it.
By A'Briani Anokye8 years ago in Viva
For the Tomboy
I got my nails done for the first time this week. I was initially debating getting them, knowing that I'm busy, and often not gentle when it comes to handling things. But my boyfriend did not exactly give me a choice. So here I am with mildly long pink and silver acrylic nails, and I realize that now that I have nails, I should probably do my hair too. I straightened my usual afro as much as I could.
By Lana G8 years ago in Viva
To the Young Girl with Resting Bitch Face
You’re fine. You’re not doing anything wrong, and there is nothing wrong with you. I know you know this now. It just makes sense, right? You smile when something makes you smile. You smile for pictures, you smile when your dad tickles your neck, and when your cousin goes ass over tin cups on the slip and slide. Seems easy enough. So easy that you don’t even have to think about it. That is, until the first person says to you, “Smile, Sweetie. You’re so much prettier when you smile.”
By Emily Fritz8 years ago in Viva