By Katie Austin of Fayetteville with daughter, Meg
Body image is something that most women think about. Most women, anyway. There are those few women who have the God given confidence to feel comfortable in their bodies that, sadly, so many of us lack. Those proud women are to be truly admired.
Not too long ago, my 16-year-old daughter showed me a website that she came across while surfing the Internet one cold day.
She was bored, so what else would any normal teenager do? The website she stumbled upon was called, “Operation Beautiful”. I took a look at it with her and immediately realized how wonderful this site was. Operation Beautiful was founded by a young woman who had overcome her own body issues and started this movement to promote a healthy self image and to boost somebody’s day:
“The mission of Operation Beautiful is to post anonymous notes in public places for other women to find. The point is that WE ARE ALL BEAUTIFUL. You are enough… just the way you are!”
My daughter and I have often discussed the topic of body image. She used to not really like hers that much no matter how much I complimented her height, her strong, long legs that could cover our back yard in 8 strides, her golden hair, her blueberry blue eyes. I kept reminding her that her doctor told her that she was in perfect proportion, and yet Meg wouldn’t believe me. But I kept on and kept on, as only a momma can, assuring Meg that she was perfect just the way she was.
Just a few months ago, the lightbulb finally switched on and she told me one morning that she finally likes her body, that she truly appreciates it for what it is: a strong, healthy, tall body. And she likes it like that.
I’ve had my own body issues in the past, and I still do today. I’ll look in the mirror and instead of appreciating the arms that carried a 10 lb. baby and a bag of groceries, I see only scrawny arms. Instead of appreciating my laugh lines around my eyes and mouth, I just see old age creeping up on me. Instead of appreciating a body that weathered pregnancy, I see a paunch where my belly used to be. The rational side of me tells me that all these things aren’t true, and yet I still wish I could look like one of those models in the magazines.
Just a little bit.
Meg decided to implement Operation Beautiful. That following Monday, after finding the website and asking for volunteers via Facebook, she armed herself with Post-It notes and, along with nearly 20 of her friends, hit the restrooms, lockers, computers, classroom doors of Fayetteville High School and started spreading the message behind Operation Beautiful. The notes said uplifting phrases like, “You’ve got a great smile! Operation Beautiful.com” and “You look great today! Operation Beautiful.com”.
It caught on quick. Later that day, Meg texted me between classes letting me know how it was going, saying that she was finding notes all over the school and that she was overhearing girls squeal when they found a new one. When I picked her up after her classes, she looked tired but very satisfied. I think that not only did she get the pleasure of spreading the message, but it also made her feel very happy to make others happy.
And that is the true meaning of Operation Beautiful, I believe.
For other good body image websites, these are terrific places to visit and maybe even become involved in!
We Are The Real Deal
I got tears in my eyes when I read the response to her efforts. What an amazing young woman!!!
Go Meg!!!!
Ah man, thanks for the kind words and also thank you for the opportunity to write this!