Embrace the beauty of the curvy woman but remember she is airbrushed too.

Pizza looks great in the commercials right? Have you ever heard the process that it takes to get that shot? It includes gluing on the pepperoni so it's just right and nailing the majority of the pizza to a board so the cheese stretches perfectly as 'you' grab a slice. It may not be a ripe juicy Mc Donalds tomato bouncing through a refreshing stream of clear water but it is staged and air brushed all the same. 

This following story has been blowing up on facebook today. It's fostering a sense of sisterhood and providing men a  platform to endorse diverse body types.  While it's awesome and maybe a glimpse of the direction we are heading in as we constantly redefine 'beauty' please don't assume that because she is plus size/ "real"/ not stick thin she has not been airbrushed. 

For so long 'perfect' has been sononomous with 'skinny'. But I think pushing images of airbrushed people of any size and calling them 'real' to distinguish them from skinny is no better. No more productive for evolving on any level. Healthy choices are.

Use this icon to remind yourself to take a moment and embrace yourself, not as an example of what you are susposed to look like in your 'real moments'.

None the less the story has connected with so many people for a really good reason.

A while back, at the entrance of a gym, there was a picture of a very thin and beautiful woman. The caption was "This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?"

The story goes, a woman (of clothing size unknown) answered the following way: 

"Dear people, whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, seals, curious humans), they are sexually active and raise their children with great tenderness.
They entertain like crazy with dolphins and eat lots of prawns. They swim all day and travel to fantastic places like Patagonia, the Barents Sea or the coral reefs of Polynesia.
They sing incredibly well and sometimes even are on cds. They are impressive and dearly loved animals, which everyone defend and admires.

Mermaids do not exist.


But if they existed, they would line up to see a psychologist because of a problem of split personality: woman or fish?
They would have no sex life and could not bear children.
Yes, they would be lovely, but lonely and sad.
And, who wants a girl that smells like fish by his side?

Without a doubt, I'd rather be a whale.

At a time when the media tells us that only thin is beautiful, I prefer to eat ice cream with my kids, to have dinner with my husband, to eat and drink and have fun with my friends.

We women, we gain weight because we accumulate so much wisdom and knowledge that there isn't enough space in our heads, and it spreads all over our bodies.
We are not fat, we are greatly cultivated.
Every time I see my curves in the mirror, I tell myself: "How amazing am I ?! "

(The girl on the picture is French model Tara Lynn)
Last comment: I'm not putting down thin people, being a thin woman myself (BMI of 22 maybe?) just saying that being large doesn't equate to being unattractive.