Owning our perfect imperfections

Billie Holiday used to say: “I sing both the happy blues and the sad blues. Anything I sing, it’s a part of my life.” I think the Badass Queen of Blues would have loved what is happening in social media right now, with women from all walks of life sharing their ‘blues’, turning them into beauty and becoming complete in the process. Because after decades and decades of media and advertising telling us that we can only be happy when we have a ‘perfect’ life and a ‘perfect’ body, a growing group of shameless celebrities, bloggers and social media-savvy women are now claiming the right to be seen, with all their perfect imperfections. From Chrissy Teigen showing off the post-baby stretchmarks on her hips (fondly calling them #stretchies) to model Tess Holiday flaunting her plus-size curves with the hashtag #effyourbeautystandards; social media has emerged as an unlikely, but empowering place to shatter the stifling beauty- and lifestyle norm. WE are the norm, and we are wielding some powerful tools: self-love and hashtags!

Here are some of our favorite hashtags to help you celebrate your glorious, unfiltered self:

1. #mermaidthighs     

Body positivity blogger Kenzie Brenna was fed up with our obsession with ‘thigh gaps’: the space you can see between the legs of some slim women when they stand with her knees together. She wondered: why do we always feel like we are -literally- too much? In a series of mirror selfies, Kenzie started showing off her ‘mermaid thighs’ -thighs that do touch – and sparked a world-wide movement of proud mermaids. “You don’t need negative space to be valued.”

2. #empoweredbygrey

Studies have shown that women are most comfortable with themselves when they are 60 years old, but society gives us a very different message by suggesting that the signs of ageing -wrinkles, grey hair etc.- are something we should be ashamed of. Luckily, there is age-positive model Caroline Labouchere (54) and other ‘golden girls’ who embrace their grey locks and laugh lines as badges of honor. “Forget ‘how old are you’? The question is: ‘how bold are you’?”.

3. #sideprofileselfie

Are you afraid to be snapped from the side because your nose isn’t ‘perfect’? You’re not alone; rhinoplasty is still the most popular type of plastic surgery (after boob jobs). A few months ago, journalist Radhika Sanghani shared a selfie from taken from the side on Twitter with a call to arms: ‘Let’s stop hating our noses for not being tiny, little snubs and learn to love them by sharing a #sideprofileselfie”. An army of ‘nosy’ women is now proudly showing their profiles, bumps and all.

There are so many more hashtags that we love, from #lovemymombod (no, it’s not normal for your body to ‘bounce back’ right after giving birth) to #saggyboobsmatter (although we strongly believe in wearing a good bra). And every day, new ones pop up, created by women who have stopped trying to be perfect and have started celebrating every part of themselves, shamelessly. Will you join the movement?