On Confidence and Beauty
Just my two cents in response to a quote from Mindy Kaling.
Her quote:
I always get asked, 'Where do you get your confidence?' I think people are well meaning, but it's pretty insulting. Because what it means to me is, 'You, Mindy Kaling, have all the trappings of a very marginalized person. You're not skinny, you're not white, you're a woman. Why on earth would you feel like you're worth anything?' - Sept. 26, 2013 Parade Magazine
My response:
I like Mindy, but I'm not sure I agree with her perspective on this. Why not acknowledge your confidence despite all that's up against you in this world? I'm proud of my confidence. It wasn't an easy thing to achieve. I may be "white", but I've never been skinny, and am certainly not "mainstream beautiful"... but I do feel beautiful and love myself and my body... DESPITE all the stuff I see and hear in the media. I think I deserve to say "go me" and consider it an accomplishment. Pretending it's not a thing isn't going to change the way the world thinks.
The thing I'm trying to get at is... it's not rude to state an obvious fact... that Mindy doesn't look like the stereotypical media infested, brainwashed opinion of beauty... it's just the way it is. Why ignore that fact? It's just reality. It sucks... absolutely, positively sucks. But it really just is.
I guess I'm just saying... the question "where do you get your confidence" is a real question that many women could actually benefit from hearing the answer to. Calling it rude and not answering the question just takes away some real support and guidance that I feel a lot of women would benefit from.
Her quote:
I always get asked, 'Where do you get your confidence?' I think people are well meaning, but it's pretty insulting. Because what it means to me is, 'You, Mindy Kaling, have all the trappings of a very marginalized person. You're not skinny, you're not white, you're a woman. Why on earth would you feel like you're worth anything?' - Sept. 26, 2013 Parade Magazine
My response:
I like Mindy, but I'm not sure I agree with her perspective on this. Why not acknowledge your confidence despite all that's up against you in this world? I'm proud of my confidence. It wasn't an easy thing to achieve. I may be "white", but I've never been skinny, and am certainly not "mainstream beautiful"... but I do feel beautiful and love myself and my body... DESPITE all the stuff I see and hear in the media. I think I deserve to say "go me" and consider it an accomplishment. Pretending it's not a thing isn't going to change the way the world thinks.
The thing I'm trying to get at is... it's not rude to state an obvious fact... that Mindy doesn't look like the stereotypical media infested, brainwashed opinion of beauty... it's just the way it is. Why ignore that fact? It's just reality. It sucks... absolutely, positively sucks. But it really just is.
I guess I'm just saying... the question "where do you get your confidence" is a real question that many women could actually benefit from hearing the answer to. Calling it rude and not answering the question just takes away some real support and guidance that I feel a lot of women would benefit from.