“It feels untenable to present oneself as someone who advocates for “body positivity” or fights oppressive beauty norms when you uphold—and profit from—the same standards you critique.”— Lexi McMenamin, bitchmedia.org
“I know exactly where a plastic surgeon would inject my forehead if I had the guts to make an appointment.”— Hallie Gould, byrdie.com
“The world currently expects us to look like a Kardashian-Jenner, with perfectly symmetrical facial features and the hip-waist ratio of a sexy flamingo.”— Melanie LaForce, amazon.com
“Long eyelashes are valuable for the illusion they create of wide, gazing eyes. This elicits protecting and care-taking responses from adults.”— Ashley Fetters, thecut.com
“'I Feel Pretty' is based on a pretty little lie: Looks don’t matter. It’s what’s on the inside that counts.”— Amanda Hess, nytimes.com
“A culture fixated on female thinness is not an obsession about female beauty, but an obsession about female obedience. Dieting is the most potent political sedative in women’s history; a quietly mad population is a tractable one.”— Naomi Wolf, amazon.com
“The patriarchy somehow convinced us that visible panty lines were unacceptable, so now I've just grown accustomed to the feeling of a fabric rope against my actual asshole all day.”— Stephen Falck, Allan McLeod, Gretchen Cutler, Aya Cash, imdb.com
“Because as easy as it is to say that any choice that we make as marginalized people is automatically feminist (because look! I’m making a decision for myself in a world that tries to make decisions for me!), the truth is that we don’t make choices in a vacuum. What that means for me is that while I…”— Melissa A. Fabello, everydayfeminism.com
“Various oppressive systems – from patriarchy to white supremacy to capitalism and beyond – have had a say in what it means to present ourselves “respectfully” for centuries. The last thing that we need is for our antidote movements to replicate those same hierarchies.”— Melissa A. Fabello, everydayfeminism.com
“It’s the pressure for women (in particular) to wear makeup that’s the problem – not the fact that it exists as an option.”— Melissa A. Fabello, everydayfeminism.com
“Experimenting with wearing makeup is often a rite of passage for young girls in our society. However, the concern is how young is too young? Girls who start too young may be hiding more than an acne breakout, they may be demonstrating early signs of self-esteem issues and a negative self-image or se…”— Adrienne Ressler, consumeraffairs.com
“The survey found that 65 percent of girls who wear makeup began wearing it between the ages of 8 and 13, and 20 percent said they feel unattractive and have negative feelings if they go without it. In addition, 27 percent of the girls surveyed said they never leave home without wearing makeup. Ever.”— Daryl Nelson, consumeraffairs.com
“You put on makeup because it's fun, but why is lengthening your eyelashes and painting your lips redder fun, instead of painting your forehead blue and drawing roses on your cheeks? Because that's the beauty standard that the patriarchy has enforced on us... You can still make these choices. We're a…”— calamity, thefinancialdiet.com
“i don't care about being pretty anymore cuz physical ugliness doesn’t exist. we just assign negative meanings to certain traits and that's what's truly ugly, it’s how cruelly we treat ourselves and the traumas we inflict ourselves chasing illusions and impossible standards. i'm not saying i still wo…”— imanes, imanes.tumblr.com
“look. i don’t think my stretch marks are beautiful. i don’t think they’re tiger stripes or natural tattoos. i don’t think my acne is beautiful. i don’t think the bags under my eyes are beautiful. i just think they’re human. and i don’t think i have to be beautiful all of the time in order to be acce…”— fairycosmos, fairycosmos.tumblr.com
“Your weight does not reduce the quality of your soul. You are not the number on your scale–neither your worth nor your intelligence nor your beauty are measured by it. No matter what size you are, you still deserve to be loved and deserve nothing less than love.”— Maxwell Diawuoh, maxwelldpoetry.tumblr.com
“I am always being asked to gain or lose weight, but I am at a point now where I don't care anymore.”— Ashley Graham, ashleygraham.com
“There is not one standard definition of beauty or one perfect size.”— Ashley Graham, ashleygraham.com