beauty
“She wins who calls herself beautiful and challenges the world to change to truly see her.” - Naomi Wolf
Doubt and Insecurity and Back-handed Compliments... That's What Some Little Black Girls Are Being Made Of
My nose got pinched more as a child than my cheeks did. Minus those obligatory Sunday mornings at my church home Franklin St. Johns, that is. And when someone wasn’t pinching my nose they were instructing me to pinch it myself. It was a chore that became part of my routine much like brushing my teeth, saying my prayers, and washing my ass.
NOTTHAT SAVEDYETPublished 4 years ago in Viva
The Story of My Hair
I had shaved my head last spring. Many asked, “Did you have a Britney Spears moment?” “Why would you cut it all off?” My answer, “Because I have always wanted to and essentially just said fuck it.” 🤷🏼♀️ I have had many hairstyles over the years. Purple, red, blonde, long, short, bob, bangs, and yes, even braids.
Hair
I won't forget when I was a junior in high school and my anatomy teacher started to rant about how hair is dead and it's absurd we assign such significance to a part of our body that is literally dead.
E.A. ForsterPublished 4 years ago in Viva
Inside and Out
The most infamous line in The Devil Wears Prada: “Yes, that's true. That's really what this multibillion-dollar industry is all about anyway, isn't it? Inner beauty.”
Confidence
I don't remember when it happened, but I remember the shift in myself; everything got a little happier, a little brighter, a little better.
How I Learned to Harness the Power of Intention Through Burlesque
It's been a little more than one year since I embarked on my burlesque journey. What began as a casual Wednesday night workout has blossomed into an intensive training opportunity with an expanding community of women from all backgrounds. It is as much a part of my identity now as my occupation as a writer or my love of pizza.
Kelly HawkinsPublished 4 years ago in Viva
How Cutting My Hair Off Set Me Free
"I'm just not attracted to girls with short hair." This is something that my (now ex) boyfriend said to me during an argument once. I'd just caught him cheating on me and that was his apparent excuse for doing so.
Portgas D. Sara (they/them)Published 4 years ago in Viva
Black Women Aren't Allowed to Have Bad Hair Days, so I Wore a Hijab to Work
My senior year of college, I had a breathtakingly beautiful roommate from Syria. She had soft olive skin, a great physique, and outrageously long eyelashes. She also had a beautiful head of hair, but we only saw it while behind the closed doors of our apartment because she—like other Muslim women—would cover herself as a sign of modesty, protecting her crown of glory. Within the first week of sharing our living quarters, I asked her to teach me to wrap myself. She graciously agreed, simply asking if I was I Muslim.
Loving Yourself Isn’t as Easy as They Say It Is
Park Nicollet released a report with some staggering statistics about body image in young women including: 53 percent of 13-year-old American girls are unhappy with their bodies. This number grows to 78 percent by the time girls reach 17. 46 percent of 9-11 year olds are "sometimes" or "very often" on diets, 82 percent of their families are "sometimes" or "very often" on diets. Over 50 percent of teen girls and 30 percent of teen boys use unhealthy weight control behaviors such as skipping meals, fasting, smoking cigarettes, vomiting, and taking laxatives.
Makayla RichardsPublished 5 years ago in Viva
Be-au-ti-ful
What is beauty, what does it really mean to be beautiful? The media has been bombarding us with its own definition of what beauty is for a long time. Social media has been both an advantage and disadvantage when it comes to challenging the definition of beauty.
Is It My Body?
I am an introvert, keeping to myself and avoiding confrontation. Yet, no matter how hard I try to blend in with the crowd or fade into the background, others always have something to say about my appearance or personality. Men and women both objectify me. Perfect strangers are just as guilty as long time friends and close family members. The comments range from painfully obvious observations ("Hahaha, you're so short, LOL") to erroneous assumptions (Wow congratulations, how many months 'til you're due?). I'm judged for every aspect of my being, from my petite stature to my voluptuous curves, from my ethnicity to my bisexual identity, from my physical appearance to the way I spell my name. I try not to dwell on other people's opinions, especially when they don't even know the real me. However, the human brain has evolved over centuries to be social, to care about our reputations, to crave acceptance and unity.
Cheryl LynnPublished 5 years ago in Viva
The Struggle Is Real: Black Woman Edition
The year is 2018. Hip-Hop is the most listened to and the highest paid genre in music, and being Black is a trend. Who would've thought? Especially after the many years of dehumanizing and demolishing the Black image. Even though this is still present today, what's changed? The role and presence of the Black woman, just to name one.
Black MulanPublished 5 years ago in Viva
