Okay, I just need to get a little something off my chest. Most everyone knows that tonight was the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. Every year, millions of girls gather around their TVs in sweatpants and drool over the women that strut down the runway--including me. Pageant girls all flood their social media with their swimsuit walks and obsess over how badly they want to one day walk the VS stage (again, I'm guilty). And then, no matter where you are or what you look like or what you do, you take one of two avenues of thinking:
"They are so perfect. I am a drunken hog that can't even get off this couch, and here are these genetically perfect Angels. I am unworthy to even watch these women walk."
"Ugh. These women are SOO unhealthy. It's disgusting. Can they eat a burger or something? It's just not natural to look like that."
I'm sure there may be various levels of in between thinking, and I know a few people grab their inspiration and determination to follow dreams as these women strut in their knickers. But I do need to tell you that both 1 and 2 are unhealthy avenues.
It's important to note that these women have a specific body type. Yes, not everyone is able to look like these women, but not everyone can look like Serena Williams either-- and not everyone can have your body type, no matter what it is. That's the point of ALL bodies being beautiful. "Nobody is you, and that is your power" is a quote that speaks truth to everyone--and basically puts you in the same bucket as the Angels (you're welcome). This show is representative of a certain body type, just like other various professions call for different body types. Even different jobs within the modeling world call for different body types. It's SUBJECTIVE.
It's also important to note that these women work HARD for their bodies, and their entire lives go into their appearance and, more specifically, the goal of being on the VS Runway. It's LITERALLY their job as a model. They spend more money and time to keep up appearances than we would ever find acceptable in our everyday lives as non-VS Angels. As a contracted Angel, their entire lives become part of the VS brand, and that takes more work that I bet you or I would like to exert in real life. The artists backstages are trained to make these already stunning women effortlessly beautiful. They are hired for their talent of doing a type of makeup that makes it look like these women just decided to take their clothes off, throw on some wings and hop on the runway to party with Gaga. That's not true though.
There are reasons that these women cry when they receive their wings or get hired to do this particular show. It's the culmination of all the hard work they've put in. It's the months of eating tuna and salads instead of burgers and fries. It's going for 5 a.m. runs instead of laying on the couch or scrolling Instagram. The show itself is rehearsed and shot early to be edited and fixed to make it look like these girls are effortless and flawless because it goes with the Victoria's Secret brand, and THAT'S OKAY. It's just show business.
I'm not here to say whose destiny and whose body is better. I'm here to say they, like you, are fearfully and wonderfully made.
These Victoria Secret models were fearfully and wonderfully made for a different purpose than you were fearfully and wonderfully made, and that's okay.
And it's okay to believe that these women are beautiful, but don't let the admiration of one person's beauty bring on the doubt of your own beauty, okay? It's okay to remain or slowly become confident in your own unique destiny, even if it doesn't involve a set of runway wings.
Rant over :)