“Is anyone happy with their body anymore?” – Genevieve Magazine Editor Betty Irabor writes on #Bodyfidence

In a new post published on Genevieve Online, Editor-in-Chief Betty Irabor talks about the rate at which people don’t love/appreciate their bodies anymore.

She calls for a need to have #Bodyfidence.

When Genevieve feature writer Torera Idowu said she wanted to champion a #Bodyfidence campaign to help women love themselves, warts and all. I couldn’t agree more.

As Editor-In-Chief, I get to meet most of our cover girls. Of course one of the reasons they are on the cover in the first place is their beauty; readers are drawn to beautiful women with stories they can relate to. Personally, I don’t think any woman is ugly. Surprisingly even the really beautiful drop dead gorgeous women have a body part they are unhappy with.

‘Could you please edit my thighs I think they are too chunky’

‘I have Christian mother arms, could you please edit out the flab’

‘I hate my nose, I hate my pigeon toes!’

‘I am too dark’

‘I see a wrinkle’

…On and on the cover girls would go as they look at their soon to be published cover images, a rare privilege extended to them by the editors just to assure them they will make beautiful cover girls.

I guess the fact that social media and fashion bloggers especially have constituted themselves into fashion police, and resorted to body-shaming women, has not helped with the insecurities.

Sensational singer, Waje once shared her story on the day she was body shamed on social media. It hurt her so much she thought of quitting and just hiding away but the trouper in her got her back on top. Celebrities are the biggest victims of this public body shaming. A celebrity who has just given birth is hounded over her post-baby bump and the pressure piles on. This pressure further fuels the level of insecurity.

We once had a hysterical cover girl in our office; she was happy with her cover until her ex-husband called her to say she looked fat and Genevieve standard must have dropped for her to make the cover. It took a while to convince her from buying every copy of the magazine in circulation. Her #bodyfidence was gone!

Why are we so insecure about our bodies? Why is it so difficult to love the skin we’re in? Hello, is anyone happy with their body anymore?

There is far too much body tampering going on. Why does a 25 year old need fillers and botox?

Why do women subject themselves to pills and injections to lighten up and lose weight without thinking of the consequences? Bleached skin doesn’t age well!

Shortcuts to beauty won’t pay off in the long term. Nothing beats a holistic approach to beauty care.

The dark skinned woman wants to be white, the woman with the beautiful full lips wants thin lips, the woman with the DD cup bra size wants a smaller cup, the one with the high cheek bones wants a Nefertiti look.

Why can’t we love our perfect imperfections and love our curves and edges?

Oh, I admit I once walked that road where every time I looked in the mirror all I saw was my button nose which my mum bequeathed me and my k leg (thank you dad). But when I finally realized these body parts were never going to change I learnt to accept them.

What will it take to love ourselves for who we are? Body confidence that’s what we need. Do not accept someone else’s definition of beauty.

Grow your confidence daily and work on parts of your body you can improve on holistically through diets, workouts and better lifestyle choices.

Truth is, nothing is as beautiful as the woman who oozes confidence. She walks into a room and her confidence glows through.

Beauty is as much in character as it is in the physical. Learn to accept a compliment without thinking someone is stringing us along.

Come on ladies, let’s celebrate our individual beauties because there is no one quite like you!