A Different Form of Expression
Photo By: Sebastien Goldberg https://unsplash.com/@sebastiengoldberg
Dana is a tomboy who enjoyed following her brother and hanging out with the boys. She wasn't a girl who felt comfortable in skirts and didn't feel particular to the colors for girls (pink, red, purple). She listened to the girls in her class talk about crop tops and bikinis for Summer and wondered why they'd want so much of their bodies exposed. Some girls wanted to attract a boy while others were just curious to try something new, could Dana feel comfortable being obviously female among her group of male friends?
Dana decided to ask her mom, “Mom, why do girls want to show off their bodies? What if they gave boys the wrong idea? Why would anyone want to attract a partner with their body?”
Dana's mom was surprised with this question and almost couldn't answer. “Well, why each person decides to do it is based on them. There is no universal answer for everyone. Advertisements tell us to do it for beauty and that being attractive is important but I believe how you express your body is a form of self-love. You shouldn't be doing it for others and you should only be choosing what is comfortable for you. If someone is comfortable exposing their body, then they are choosing to love what they are. Try to remember that not everyone is the same. Just as a turtle would never want to be without its shell, what a person wears is only a choice of apparel that they put on.”
Dana nodded thoughtfully and said, “So, choosing what I wear can be an expression of myself in the moment… but, unlike the turtle, it isn’t a definition of who I am. Mom, would you mind if I experimented with different outfits?”
Dana’s mom nodded tentatively. “I will be here to support you as you make your discoveries.”
In Life, our thoughts are influenced by what we see and hear. It's important to remember that everything we choose to do is an expression of who we are and we don't have control over how it gets interpreted. We must know our intentions and remain open to the different ways it can be understood.
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