Imperfect Beauty

I have to be honest. I’ve been sitting on this post for several days now because I’ve been scared to death of actually putting up this photo. It’s amazing how attached we become to our avatars to the point that we’re protective. And, yes, I’m not opposed to being bold when styling, but this is different because I actually feel vulnerable. I guess that’s the point when you’re posing with no clothes on 😉

But in any event, my strength and reason for doing this was inspired by one of my rl family members who struggles with her self image. She questions whether she is beautiful because she doesn’t “look” like the other girls that are her age. She feels inadequate and inferior because she doesn’t draw the same attention from guys that some of her girlfriends do. She looks in the mirror and hates what she sees, because she feels that she doesn’t meet what she perceives to be society’s definition of beauty.

What saddens me is that now more than ever, we herd individuals into some sort of Stepford Wife definition of beauty. And, when you add the layer of social media – which thank God that wasn’t available when I was in high school, or I would have been a hot mess – it’s even more amplified because you’re constantly being compared and scrutinized at such a young age on what you look like.

And, it seems like this phenomenon has extended into the virtual world also. When I started in Second Life a little more than a year ago, we had mesh feet and maybe mesh hands because – let’s be honest – the regular avi feet have no toes. Now, fast forward a year later, and we have mesh butts, mesh boobs, mesh lips, and even mesh faces. These things are being sold because everyone seems to be in search of perfection to the point that individuality falls to the wayside.

So, after my young relative told me how she was feeling, I gave her a hug and shared with her the lesson that I eventually had to learn when I was her age (btw I was super skinny with coke bottle glasses and a jheri curl) : it’s our differences that makes us beautiful. It is our unique qualities that captivate and enchant, and if we all looked alike and behaved the same way, humans would be boring.

It was that conversation which inspired me to give you Eva as she is – minimal makeup and no mesh body parts, except for the nails (notice you’re not seeing toes 😉 ). She may not look like what others believe a black woman on SL should look like, but her “imperfections” and personality makes her beautiful to me. ❤

CREDITS