Aisha Fairclough
Co-Founder, Body Confidence Canada
Dr. Jill Andrew
Co-Founder, Body Confidence Canada
Finding our beauty and strength can seem like a challenge, but it becomes easier when we make an effort to empower one another.
Our bodies take us through the world, from our first breath to our last. They move us through society, socializing and creating memories with loved ones and the random strangers we encounter in our day-to-day lives. Our bodies get us through conflict. Very early on in childhood, however, we begin to learn the solemn truth that some bodies are seen, heard, celebrated, and even protected more than others — and crowned “the beautiful ones” while others are, well, not crowned.
In the best of times, body confidence is our ability to see ourselves amidst the noise and false information of diet, beauty, and self-help industries — engines that accelerate when we don’t like the reflections staring back at us. They’re the piggy banks getting richer and richer off our insecurities and our perfect “imperfections.”
As we redefine beauty standards and empower others to feel confident in the skin they’re in, we become part of a revolution — one set to leave nobody behind or discriminated against based on their size, race, religion, gender expression or identity, class, age, sexuality, or ability. Our body confidence is knowing that we’re good enough just the way we are. It’s us breaking the stigma around talking about our mental health. It’s accepting that some days will be great, others not, and some will simply be neutral.
Finding our beauty during this pandemic has been a struggle for so many. Social isolation and uncertainty have taken their toll. It’s times like these when we must remember our strength, endurance, and vulnerability. Sometimes showing up just the way we are — strong, afraid, solid, fractured, and everything in between — is the biggest, boldest step we can take toward our body confidence, and that’s beautiful.
