Beauty Should NOT Hurt

You must suffer to be beautiful.

How many times have you heard that? You hear it when you complain about the excruciating pain of waxing your legs. Or about the bunions and corns a day in high heels has left on your feet. Or the hunger, dizziness, and nausea you feel when you are on a too strict diet.

You sigh. Wish things were different. And the next day, you go and endure it all again. It’s not like you have much choice. Most beauty treatments hurt.

Waxing. Threading. Diets. Chemical peels. Botox. Derma fillers. Plastic surgery. Lasers… Everything hurts, even if just a little. And that’s when everything goes well.

When it doesn’t… We’ve all heard those horror stories about women ending up in hospital with serious waxing injuries, chemical peel burns, or infections from botched botox. Or plastic surgeries gone horribly wrong and diets turned into eating disorders.

But that doesn’t seem to stop the madness. We keep spending a lot of money and time, on anything that promises to remove our flaws and make us beautiful, regardless of how painful or dangerous it is. Why?!

Because feeling inadequate, flawed, and worthless hurts a lot more.

Why You Hurt Yourself In The Name Of Beauty

You’re bombarded, every single day, with millions of images of flawless, young women. You know it’s all Photoshopped and filtered, but you still want to look like them.

You wish you had thinner thighs. Pertier breasts. Smoother skin. If you don’t, you feel like youe have no business even walking down the street, let alone don a bikini at the beach.

It’s like having a spotlight on you all the time, with everyone around you scrutinising every inch of our body, pointing out all your flaws, and wondering why you were allowed to leave the house looking that hideous.

And so you pluck, tweeze, squeeze, peel, diet, and force your feet into shoes that hurt them, all in the hope that, one day, you will finally feel beautiful and worthy of love.

But that day never comes. Instead, the standards of beauty keep getting narrower and narrower. Ten years ago, size zero did not exist. Now, it’s not small enough. Hair has become unacceptable anywhere bar the head. A thigh gap is a “must”.

The media and beauty, diet, and fitness industries keep creating illusions, promoting standards of beauty impossible to achieve in order to make millions. They need to convince women they aren’t pretty enough and destroy their self-esteem so that then they can generously offer them the solutions (which rarely, if ever work) to their problems. Problems those industries have created. In women’s heads.

I don’t want to shame anyone who tried any of these treatments in the pursuit of beauty. I did too. I still tweeze my eyebrows and wear high heels from time to time. But I think it is important to recognize what we are suffering for.

Real Beauty Doesn’t Hurt

If you endure the pain to achieve the happiness and love that you’re told only beauty can bring you, then you’re setting ourself up for failure and a life of misery.

We need to redefine our definition of beauty. True beauty is not about thin thighs and luscious hair. And it certainly is never painful. True beauty is fun, happy, positive.

It is in your soul, and comes from within. It’s about who you are as a human being. Your values and your personality. It’s about love. It’s embracing yourself for who you are and striving to be the best person you can be. True beauty is imperfect, but never flawed.

How To Embrace Your Own Beauty

There are a lot of ways to learn to embrace true beauty and inspire others to do the same. Here are a few:

1. Refuse to engage in “fat talk” and body shame

Speaking negatively about your job is not just common. It is expected. It’s how women bond. But the price is too high. When you say nasty things about your body, you start feeling less confident and worthy. You make other people feel like that, too. If you judge yourself too harshly, you teach other people to do the same. So, stop. Refuse to say anything bad aloud and ask your friends to do the same. Soon, those negative voices in your heads won’t be so loud anymore.

2. Be Kind

Instead of putting yourself and others down, be positive. Complement the women in your life for their talents, accomplishments, and character traits, like honesty and kindness. Those are the things that really matter, that makes us feel appreciated as human beings, and that encourage us to be the best people we can be.

3. Put Yourself In His Shoes

Have you noticed that men are never told they have to suffer in the name of beauty? And they don’t worry about every little “imperfection”, like women do. Although the beauty, diet, and fitness industries are starting to target them too, men are a lot less likely to try drastic diets, laxatives, and waxing, especially in their nether regions. So, next time you are thinking of trying some painful treatment, ask yourself: “would my man do this too?” If the answer is no, don’t do it yourself. Chances are what you are trying to fix is not a real problem, but one created by the beauty industry to make a profit.

4. Ask Why

Before you go see a plastic surgeon or decide to embark on another diet, ask yourself why you are doing it. Is it because you are ashamed of yourself and the way you look? If so, don’t do it. Shame has never solved anything. It can sometimes be a powerful motivator, but a very dangerous one. Shame is what prompts us to make bad choices – like taxing laxatives to lose weight or try non-FDA approved treatments to get rid of any perceived flaws – that only compromise our health.

5. Go On A Media Ban

Ignoring the media completely is impossible, but try to stay away from as much of it as you can for a week or two. When you then come back to it, you’ll notice how much more carefree you were on your ban, and be more sensitive to the images and messages the media promotes. You’ll notice how unhealthy, unrealistic, and plasticky those airbrushed images really are, and learn to appreciate your body a lot more.

Related: How Going On A Media Fast Helped My Self-Esteem

6. Become An Advocate

Once you learn to be critical of the media and its messages, help others do the same. When you hear someone say something negative about her appearance, tell her to stop. Tell your friends why you have stopped buying that magazine or watching that TV show. Share positive body image articles on social media. Start discussions about the unrealistic standards of beauty perpetuated by the media on forums. Take every opportunity you can to make people think about these issues.

Beauty shouldn’t hurt. If it does, you’re doing it wrong.

What painful treatments have you tried in the pursuit of beauty? Share your experience in the comments below.

About Gio

Hi, I'm Gio. I'm a no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is skin coach and writer on a mission to help you achieve your best skin day ever - every day. I bust skincare myths and debunk marketing jargon to help you figure out what's worth the splurge and what's best left on the shelf - using science, not hype. I also offer skincare consultations to help you create the best skincare routine for your unique needs.