This year's theme for International Women's Day is #ChooseToChallenge and we asked Phoebe, @modelappetite what it means to her. 🌱
In a world where “beauty” is put on a pedestal, a world where social platforms showcase idyllic lives, a world where we must all say the right thing, do the right thing and think the right thing. Being “perfect” is easier said than done right?
This year IWD is asking us to #ChooseToChallenge and I choose to challenge my perception of perfection and the standards social media places on me as a mother, a wife, a model and a woman.
I have many times succumbed to the pressures of “perfect parenting”, of trying to live up to an unrealistic social media expectation, of having a relationship with my husband that Hollywood and Disney movies tell us it should be. I won’t pretend that I haven’t only posted photos of life’s highlights to my Instagram, or lied in a conversation with my fellow mamas about what deliciously, nutritious food I fed my kids for lunch, or written down smaller measurements on a casting form. It’s exhausting.
I want my girls to grow up in a world where being themselves wholeheartedly is something to be encouraged and celebrated. And in order for that to happen I need to be the example.
I’m sure that most of us can look at the first photo of me and see that I’m leaning back to lengthen my body, have moved my arm behind me to appear more slender, am tensing my stomach to look more defined and have straightened my legs to look leaner. I’m doing this because, hey, why not want to post a photo in which I feel I look the most flattering version of myself? However, I wouldn’t be doing my message justice if I didn’t post a second photo of myself which shows off another equally, beautifully, honest version of me.
This is me. But the second image is also me. This is the first time I have ever posted, what I feel to be a rather uncomplimentary photo of myself on social media. It’s scary but it’s also incredibly freeing. The definition of freedom – the power to determine action without restraint.
So in short, this IWD I choose to be free, not perfect #ChooseToChallenge