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Celebrate Your Femininity
by Sam Cooper of Simply Good Diapers™
It’s amazing to be a woman. Over the years, the image of the “ideal” physical appearance of a woman has changed – from the rolls of beautiful white flesh on the Baroque painters’ female models, to the cinched corsets of the Renaissance maidens, to the rail thin runway models of today. Like the old clothes in the back of our closet, the “ideal” of what a woman should physically look like will rotate with the ages -- it’s just a matter of time. Many of us do everything we can think of to look pretty, even though beauty is, as we are often reminded, merely in the eye of the beholder. We put on makeup, shave our legs, style our hair – often for hours in our search for perfection. Perfect does not exist. So while many of us try to make our outside look beautiful, what we really need to celebrate what is inside of us, where real beauty lies, in our soul -- our essence of our femininity. How do we feel about our menstrual cycles, as women? It’s not something to be ashamed of or upset with, even though some in our society still may want to make us feel that way. We have a menstrual cycle. Physically at that time of the month we can be moody, bloated, irritable –- but this is precisely part of what defines us as women. As Alexandra Pope writes, “Women are blessed with an inner process, the menstrual cycle, that reminds us of and supports [emotional and spiritual depths along with our intellectual capacities. This is a wonderful gift. A kind of blessing.” Women have the unique ability to create, carry, and give birth to a new life. We will only do that so many times in our lifetimes, but each month we have another opportunity to go through this process –- a reminder to draw upon, rejoice in, and be thankful for. For those just entering into this new part of life, it can sometimes be a scary and confusing time. Why is my body doing this? Why do I have to go through this? It can sometimes seem to be simply another hassle and inconvenience in our already busy lifestyles. However it is truly the beginning of a great journey, and the start of the development of “power of self awareness, deep feeling, knowingness, intuition. A power that matures over time with each cycle.” (Pope). We develop into women and learn as we grow. This process of maturing, learning, and growing cannot be stopped, nor should anyone ever wish it to. We are all different, yet we all share a common bond. We have so many roles: mother, sister, daughter, caretaker, wife, lover, guardian, and companion only to name a few. But being a woman is who we are –- it is our identity and everything that defines us. We also love, hate, cry, smile, nurture. We can do everything and anything. Everything about us is something to celebrate and love about ourselves, something that can never be taken away. It is truly amazing to be a woman.
The beauty of a woman
The beauty of a woman
It is the caring that she lovingly gives,
-Author Unknown
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