Why Body Confidence is So Important

Body confidence is oh so very important. Everyone should feel comfortable in their own bodies, no matter what their shape, size, colour, race, whatever. A few weeks ago I noticed a picture went viral of a young woman who posted pictures of herself in her underwear – one standing up and one sitting down. The difference between the two pictures is evident, but it is healthy and it is normal. Anna Victoria, a fitness blogger, shared these images to Snapchat, which people called for her to post onto Instagram in order to boost body confidence in women – she originally posted this over a year ago despite it going viral recently – and it reached almost 84,000 likes. Scrolling through her Instagram, you can clearly see that Anna encourages self-belief and is no stranger to a selfie like this. So much so, another picture, similar to this, was posted more recently showing the same thing raking up an amazing 341,000 likes.

It is true that we all have rolls, we all have a bit of chubbiness here and there, but that’s what makes us ourselves. It’s easier said than done, I know, but we should all learn to accept our so-called ‘flaws’ and embrace them. Being the confident individuals we are and not giving a care in the world about others think of us, we should stand up to body-shamers and just do you.

Another photo went viral earlier this month when another fitness blogger and former body-builder, Molly Galbraith, posted a photo of her derrière. Along with the picture she said that she had cellulite on her legs, stretch marks on her hips, buttocks and breasts, and some ‘jiggle’ on her belly – who doesn’t? What the world needs to accept and understand is that this is perfectly normal. Molly claims that the world constantly wants her to believe that this look is “not okay”, which is wholly unfair.We shouldn’t be made to believe we aren’t good enough or pretty enough – never. So, instead of embracing what someone else determined to be a ‘flaw’ of hers, she choose to embrace her “whole, flawless body” – this should be the case for everyone, both men and women respectively.

I’ve never really been confident in my body because I’ve never been the stereotypical girl with a flat stomach, who goes to the gym everyday and eats clean – multiple times in my life I have been made to feel like because I am not like this, I am not attractive. Because of this, I have never felt overly happy in myself. But that has changed recently. I have started to embrace my ‘flaws’ because I have finally learnt that no one is perfect. My boyfriend should really get a mention here, because without him and his words of encouragement and buckets-full of love and compassion, I wouldn’t feel as happy and accept myself – he really is nothing short of amazing.

“No one is perfect“

If only I could go back and tell my 12 year old self that you don’t have to be stick-thin in order to be ‘attractive’ and feel good about yourself. It’s unfair that we, as women, are made to think that if we don’t fit this ‘criteria’, we are simply not good enough. The same way that if men don’t have abs and muscle, they aren’t good enough, but you are. My pledge is to all those out there, men and women, to never feel this way, ever. We are all human. We all have flaws. No one is perfect. Accept who you are and most importantly, be happy. It’s incredible what a bit of confidence can do!

With love,

Victoria

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