For years, society has cruelly and recklessly marginalized so many normal parts of the human experience. And that is exactly why it is way past time to de-stigmatize, normalize and celebrate whatever particular imperfection I feel weird about today.
Whether it’s small feet, nails chewed down past the cuticle, flabby arms, or upper lip hair, flaws are what make us beautiful and unique, and I don’t want to deal with mine being considered weird or gross anymore, so it is the responsibility of society to grow, evolve, and please make them cool? Please?
Take frizzy hair, for instance: For years, I’ve been using a combination of serums and heat styling tools to tame my naturally wiry mane. But yesterday I didn’t have the time, so I let my frizz fly free, and you know what? It felt great! Everyone else should do it too so that we’re all frizzy, and it’s not weird that I’m frizzy, because we’re all that way.
On that note, it’s also time to normalize the natural process of aging. Why? Because this morning, I noticed two new gray hairs. It’s not that I didn’t think gray hairs were beautiful before — but now that this is something that is affecting me, it’s really important, so get on board because the gray hair train is leaving the station and the next stop is trendy town, babes!
My thick ankles have bothered me for a long time, but as the weather gets warmer, I am committed to not only flaunting my cankles, but also projecting this insecurity onto everyone else, too. If you have thick ankles, you have to show them, and you’re a bad feminist who hates herself if you don’t.
Sure, everybody has things they don’t love about themselves, and it’s actually a regular part of the human experience to have occasional bouts of low confidence. And yes, it would be, frankly, frightening to never for one second doubt your own greatness in all things. But on the other hand, bad feelings are so annoying and I absolutely refuse to sit with them for even one second.
These are traits I am unwilling to change; everyone else should change their expectations!
Finally, I propose that we as a culture promise to embrace whatever will bother me tomorrow. It could be “leg hair” or “not knowing how to play an instrument” or “being single on the holidays.” It doesn’t really matter what the issue is. What matters is that I never have to look inside myself to find out why I let my insecurities rule my life, and can instead declare it society’s problem and write an angsty op-ed asking everyone else to do the work for me. In fact, let’s make that the next movement. Normalize turning challenging emotions into rallying cries 2021!
