Sunday Writing Prompt “Inner Beauty”

Posted on September 1, 2019 by pensitivity101

What does inner beauty mean to you? How do you cope with society’s unrealistic ideals of physical beauty? What do you do to feel attractive? Confident? Inspired? What message would you like to impart about beauty to the youth of today?

I was nominated to do a quotes challenge on this theme a little while ago and chose the above quotes for it.
I’ve been told I ‘tart up’ pretty well but was never really comfortable with fussing around with make up, posh clothes and a fancy hairdo, though I’ve always like jewellery so could do a rich bitch impression by wearing a fair bit of the quality stuff!
My confidence took a bashing in the mid ’80s and it took a while for me to get it into my head that it was OK to be me, and not what someone else expected.
As long as I’m clean, tidy and presentable, I’m happy with my lot, and actually like the person I am now. I would like to think that a lot of other people do too.
I’ve always believed that it’s not the wrapping that matters so much, but what’s inside, and wrote the original of this in 1983, revamping it for a post in 2014.

 I am What I am

I’d describe myself as cuddly, not fat, but far from thin,
The diets I have tried in vain just made my bank balance slim.
But ‘He’ wants me skinny and arm candy, a Page Three pin up girl,
Eyes made up, no glasses, hair long and straight, no curl.
There’s thousands out there like me, wanting to put up a fight,
We’re tired of all this male aggro, so come on Girls, Unite!
It’s the men who want us to diet, dolly birds to show off and own,
An ego trip for their vanity, why can’t they leave us alone?
We may have boobs like melons, and double chins like Mother’s Pride,
Be broad across the beam as well, but don’t shame us by being snide.
We’re nearly always cheerful, and happy with our lot,
Comfortable in mind and body, making the most of what we’ve got.
We’re homely, reliable, loyal, with sincere warmth within our heart,
At peace with all and sundry, until your comments start.
Only then do we feel ugly, displeased with what we see,
Looking in a mirror thinking ‘Good grief, that lump is me’.
Ladies, tell yourself you’re gorgeous, lose the belly by breathing in,
If anyone’s worth loving, it goes deeper than the skin.
So for all you naive gentlemen, think of what you may be denied
By not looking beyond the wrapper, you won’t know what’s inside.

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About pensitivity101

I am a retired number cruncher with a vivid imagination and wacky sense of humour which extends to short stories and poetry. I love to cook and am a bit of a dog whisperer as I get on better with them than people sometimes! In November 2020, we lost our beloved Maggie who adopted us as a 7 week old pup in March 2005. We decided to have a photo put on canvas as we had for her predecessor Barney. We now have three pictures of our fur babies on the wall as we found a snapshot of Kizzy, my GSD when Hubby and I first met so had hers done too. On February 24th 2022 we were blessed to find Maya, a 13 week old GSD pup who has made her own place in our hearts. You can follow our training methods, photos and her growth in my blog posts. From 2014 to 2017 'Home' was a 41 foot narrow boat where we made strong friendships both on and off the water. We were close to nature enjoying swan and duck families for neighbours, and it was a fascinating chapter in our lives. We now reside in a small bungalow on the Lincolnshire coast where we have forged new friendships and interests.
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25 Responses to Sunday Writing Prompt “Inner Beauty”

  1. Paula Light says:
    September 1, 2019 at 2:54 pm

    Good one. Shallow men aren’t worth our time because even when they’re momentarily pleased, they’ll soon be looking on for the next shinier gal. There will always be someone prettier. Even the most beautiful women are plagued with cheating men. How is that???

    On the other hand, I’ve found it best to also be very wary of insecure men as well as the arrogant. A man has to feel somewhat confident about himself or he’ll constantly be seeking praise and validation from me like I’m his mommy and that’s no good. If I don’t reassure him every second that he’s wonderful, he starts looking elsewhere too!

  2. Shweta Suresh says:
    September 1, 2019 at 3:50 pm

    We are what we are indeed. The sooner we come to terms with that, the happier we’ll be. I loved your “I am what I am” piece.

  3. Sadje says:
    September 1, 2019 at 4:21 pm

    Oh how well you have written it. Perfect

  4. Shweta Suresh says:
    September 1, 2019 at 6:29 pm

    Uh oh. That wasn’t my original point. 🙆 I was referring from lines 4 till the end. 😁

  5. Wind Kisses says:
    September 1, 2019 at 8:00 pm

    My favorite sentence was “It is OK to be me and not what someone else expected. “. Amazing how we want to fall into that sometimes, Loved the poem,

  6. Michael says:
    September 2, 2019 at 5:47 am

    Excellent words of wisdom Di, I work on the theory that is how people see me.

  7. Jonathan Caswell says:
    November 2, 2019 at 5:54 pm

    Reblogged this on By the Mighty Mumford and commented:
    DEFINITELY LOVABLE!

Comments are closed.