I've embarked on a journey to self-acceptance by exposing my body image issues and by coming to terms with the reality of socially-constructed beauty ideals, which is that they don't derive from anything "real" at all. I've faced my face. Can you? (Story in comments)

For one of my classes I was assigned a project called the "Mirrors Project". The assignment required students to refrain from looking at themselves in the mirror and other reflective surfaces for an entire week. The end goal of this assignment was for the student to reach a place of peace where they could view their body with acceptance and love. Not looking in a mirror for an entire week was impossible for me, not because I didn't want to take on the challenge, but because I work at a facility that hosts focus groups that is completely lined with one-way mirrors. So in attempt to still meet the requirements of the assignment, with the help of my Professor, I came up with an alternative approach.

 

My biggest body image issue is the condition of my skin. I apply a literal façade of makeup to my face every day in order to hide its every imperfection. I decided to document my body image issue to assist me in lifting off the mask of makeup that I so desperately try to hide behind. I recorded my daily application of make-up, followed by its removal to reveal my real face, the real me. The video I made speaks to societally-constructed ideals of beauty that both consciously and subconsciously infiltrate every part of our lives and dilute our personal understandings of what it means to be beautiful. I relate my struggles with body image to the notorious “selfie” in an effort to expose the reality of social constructions of beauty, which is ultimately, that they do not derive from anything “real” at all. Quick disclaimer: I love makeup. I think it’s fun to experiment with and in many cases I even consider it a form of art. I’m not saying don’t wear makeup. I’m not even saying I’ll stop wearing makeup. I just think that I really needed to explore why I’m wearing it. I’m not wearing it because I’m trying to make a fashion statement. The reason I’m wearing it is to ultimately draw less attention to myself– less attention to my flaws… and I think that speaks volumes. My goal was to understand where these fears of exposing my face came from. I find their roots in the persistent bombardment of images, messages, and social cues that men and women experience every day. In the end, I really came to a place of acceptance with myself. I feel free and all it took was facing my face.

 

If you have the time and can tolerate hearing my voice for a full twelve minutes, I would really appreciate it if you could watch it!

 

I leave you with these questions to ponder… What do you do when you are confronted with these impossible ideals? Do you conform? Do you resist? Where do you find peace? Can you face your face?

 

Thank you for reading and watching!

/r/TwoXChromosomes Thread Link - youtube.com