I am writing this post just before going out with some friends to a bar and having a good time (I hope). The reason for posting this is because I have decided to give value to something that, sometimes, we don't usually highlight. And that is the fact of valuing our beauty, the pleasure of being able to treat ourselves once in a while, and also to break the monotony of work-home-work. I am not a party woman or a woman who goes out every weekend. For this reason, when I do decide to "go crazy" a bit, it's a big event for me, haha. I'm at a stage in my life where accepting certain things that I used to disregard makes me feel fantastic. These lines are addressed to that part of our femininity that should never die.
Vanity. That human action, which at the moment, is going through a controversial time. It is enough to enter any social network that contains videos to be able to notice that there is a tendency towards a new conservatism? That is, mostly men openly expressing their opinions about what they think we should and shouldn't do. I do see this as a remnant. Like the last gasp of something that refuses to die: machismo, mainly, but also inequality according to the genitalia you have between your legs.
Today I won't go into that dynamic of detailing what I know all of us have seen in some reel. However, what I am going to highlight, and a lot, is that beauty that we all always look for and highlight. I'm not a Miss, nor a model, but I won't lie either; beyond the fact that I'm about to have a different kind of night, it's no less true that I feel powerfully beautiful. I love that power that only vanity gives us. I am a practitioner of intellect and that our capabilities are worth more than our feminine qualities; but I will not ostracise what makes us unique either. Pretty make-up, sexy clothes, and that feeling of being beautiful.
Well, I understand that here at @ladiesofhive, the value of our femininity points elsewhere. Also, and I applaud that initiative. But, I have noticed (and this is not a merciless criticism, nor even less, in a bad way) that there is a lack of space for those who make us unique. I see little praise for our fellow women and little appreciation of that ability to project our essence through the benefits of cosmetics and beauty that only we apply and understand. And although I know that femininity is not directly proportional to the way we look, don't tell me you don't feel beautiful when you look in the mirror, completely beautiful....
Even in my outfit I'm wearing a little hat, and although it looks like a Halloween look, it's no less true that this alternative and dark way of dressing fascinates me... And not to mention the lingerie. But this is not the time to raise the temperature. There are certain things that are better suggested than explicitly detailed. I love the fact that even my daughter finds me beautiful. You know, if your own children notice that you look beautiful, you must have done something right. I am thrilled. I apologise for the simplicity of the selfies, but my intention was not to be Simone de Beauvoir today, but something closer to Lady Gaga (keeping the distance in both references, heh).
So I love myself a lot. Not because of how I look on this evening. But because the processes of acceptance, normalisation and beauty habits have made me feel more complete, more unique, better about myself. I can be the mother, the wife, the girlfriend; daughter, sister, ordinary, but also show powerful and kinkier versions of myself. I think all of us in this community have been there. I hope you have a great day this Friday. I don't know if you're in love, but if you're not, do it with yourself. It is totally worth it and rewarding, and inescapably transformative. Health, beauty, vanity, strength, character and femininity, girls. Remember that, okay?
All photographs, in this case selfies, have been taken by me.
