Self image.

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Hey folks!

Here it is. February's blog post. And yes, I do realise that it is mid March now. This blog post has been written in snippets, on the way to and fro work, a trip to Manchester to see a dear old friend and now, at my desk during my lunch break. What with me travelling to Dubai for a time span across the end of Feb and early March it had unfortunately, taken a back seat in my ever long to-do list. Of course, this means I owe you guys an additional post soon, I’m hoping to get an extra one out before the end of the month or early next month but time will tell…

Quick update on last months post regarding my kaizen resolutions...

1) Gym - this has been going well, I've been reaching my goals. I won't lie I did miss a session after I gave blood though. I've also been trying to walk more. On holiday I hit up the gym a few times too. This week I’ve not managed due to resettling in after my holiday but rest assured this will resume as of this weekend!

2) Blog - number two, check! Ten to go! It was a big struggle trying to come up with a topic. Any suggestions and inputs are much appreciated!

3) Promotion - awaiting appraisal in the summer. Still a junior analyst for now.

Now, all that aside, this month I'm gonna be writing about personal image. How you perceive you appear to others and how we all judge others to some degree based on the way they look, externally. This was an idea that stemmed from watching THIS video that a friend sent to me. Thanks for making me think!

So firstly I think this topic is ever so slightly more relevant to female readers, which immediately made me pose the question of why this is the case. In short – I believe, there's less pressure on men, both from other men and from females. And definitely less pressure from the media as a whole. To be honest there just seems to be more acceptance in general. I mean there are BIG guys like for example, Rick Ross out there and he gets away with out too much slagging off. Yeah every so often people let slip a few fat jokes, but it's nothing compared to what the case would be with a female alternative.

Now, I don't read magazines and in general I think they're filled with mindless rubbish and gossip about celebs and wannabe celebs - quite frankly, I couldn't care less about where they've been seen, who they're dating or what they've been caught wearing. I've flicked through them at the doctors and I kinda feel like when you've read one, you've pretty much read them all...

On one page you have x celeb looking great in her bikini, on the next there's y celeb that's lost too much weight and looks unhealthy and the following page there's someone else that has *SHOCK* *HORROR* PUT ON SOME WEIGHT! And all these articles they're always so harsh, so darn critical. Oh someone was caught looking a bit pale without make up, someone else is ageing and oh my, someone else is back with him. Why do we care?! Don't we have enough going on in our own lives to think about instead of meddling in the affairs of others who don't know we even exist?!

Don’t even get me started on TV shows following celebrity lives… Caught a bit of the Kardashian’s whilst taking a jog at the gym a few weeks ago and wondered, in short, WTF. Why is this so popular, some one care to explain?

Make up is another one for females. If you don't wear it, like me most days, perhaps you should consider wearing it, a touch of foundation, a lick of eyeliner, a bit of lippy. It'll make your skin/eyes/lips look amazing. Like I can't make that decision myself. If you do wear it on a daily basis, then one day go without everyone one asks what's wrong? Or says you look ill cos they're so used to seeing you with it on. What is up with that?!

From a very young age we are shown images of women through the media and quickly have unrealistic expectations of what one “should” look like. In reality, those women are smothered in make up, often have plastic surgery and as if that wasn’t enough, there’s photoshop and the option of reshooting unflattering scenes… It’s interesting that, for me, the image of an older woman i.e. a grandmother is untainted by this, though, with what you see on TV that might not last long.

I guess the rise of social media doesn't really help - people post selective, flattering picture of themselves and are able to untag those which they don't want their friends to see... This means you're constantly only seeing the 'best' of normal people... 

We all age, we all get wrinkles, ultimately, we will all die. You just have to embrace that about life… You've only got a short time. And, yes, while I agree that if you want to do stuff to yourself it’s up to you, I also think it takes a strong woman not to succumb to these societal expectations.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that it's inevitable that we all judge people based on their external appearance but let's try on a conscious level to give them the benefit of the doubt on how they choose to present themselves, give them a chance to present their character and personality before defining them into a stereotype... It's only fair.

Don’t judge a book by it’s cover and all that jazz man. & beauty is in the eye of the beholder – you know the deal.

That's all for now,

Take care

-K