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Article by Speaker Xina Sy. Find out more about Xina.

Back When?
The big Billy Joel hit in 1977 "Just the Way You Are," sums it up best! The song rang in everyone’s head in our office as I bellowed out, "Does anyone know who wrote that song that goes, "…don’t go changing, to try and please me…." Before long, everyone was humming and singing off key, the words that made it okay for women of the 70’s to be exactly who they were, how they were, however that seemed to be.

The seventies were like that though, weren’t they (I was young, okay I was 7 in 1977, but I remember the song!)? Everywoman was free to be her Self without apology. Hips were in, so much they were called hip-huggers! And if you were bold and busty, you wore them to make a statement about your femininity, not about your pant size. Shirts that showed off sexy breast lines were considered the norm and women felt comfortable in their clothing, as well as, in their bodies.

Times They Are A’Changin’
So, what happened? Yes, even in the seventies, slim was in, but there was more of a freedom to simply be your Self and the focus just wasn’t on body image, at least not for most 7 year olds. During a period of revolution, sexual freedom and, cultural change, society seemed much more interested in women’s minds and what they had to say. But it does seem, in my little tour of history and popular culture, that throughout the ages, our focus has slowly slipped away from the minds of women and has moved much more toward their rear ends!

Now, I do not proclaim to be a social activist, but maybe in some sense I really am, or a card carrying feminist (I am probably one of those by definition as well), but what I do claim to be is a strong believer that beauty, physical and other, comes in all shapes and sizes, colors and hues, and that women can not continue to allow the media and it’s stereotypical definitions of beauty and culture to define them. Wow, that was a mouthful! It is my earnest hope that women would return to their place of power and freedom and self-definition and stop accepting the ploys of the media, the beauty and fitness industries; to shift our focus off their deceptive marketing techniques by putting it upon ourselves, thus making us feel bad about who we have become.

What do we do now?
We must make a commitment to love and be ourselves without apology! The funny cartoon character, Popeye would say, "I am what I am!" I say, "Ditto!" I am black, and bald, and big, and beautiful and SO WHAT! We must be willing to make bold statements about whom we are and why we love US.

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