Ahhh…that relationship you have with the reflection in the mirror. What prompted this post is the recent hot topic of the bikini picture of Khloe Kardashian that was posted without her approval. I love Khloe – I always have! She is my favorite Kardashian sister. There is just something about her energy that I can relate to. But her reaction to this recent event has made me question if she really is the woman that she portrays herself to be. She didn’t like the photo that was posted and had her team scramble to get it removed from the internet as soon as possible. But as we know, nothing can ever truly be deleted from the internet. And her knee-jerk reaction in an attempt at an impossible task caused more damage than the posted picture could have ever done.
I saw the picture and to me the Khloe in the picture was beautiful. She looked young, care-free and happy. In fact, I screenshotted and sent it to a friend and said what a breath of fresh air to see Khloe in this way – it’s good to see a celebrity with a normal body. And it was! To see a celebrity unedited, with no filter applied, or without perfect lighting shows they too have to work for their shape. They are no different from you and me.
It has taken me decades to love my body, but I do. And I am proud of it because I earned the right to look the way I do through hours of sweat and consistent dedication to a healthy lifestyle. I too would be upset if someone posted a picture of me without my approval that I felt didn’t portray my best self, but I would not react the way she did. She lost so much creditability as a strong, confident woman with her reaction. She showed the Khloe that comes across our TV screens or our phones is not the authentic Khloe. As the creator of Good American which promotes positive body image of all shapes and sizes, this event showed that her thoughts on body image are conditional and her sales pitch isn’t a true reflection of how she accepts her own body. It appears her conditions for the body are that it must be shown as perfect or else it is not worthy of the world to see. The photo of debate was not racy or more revealing than any other bikini picture posted of her. And if it had been and that was the reason for her panic then it would make sense and be completely understandable. But it all came down to Khloe being shown in a way she did not want the world to see. And that is sad to me. Why wouldn’t you want to present your true self; yourself in its most natural state? She only wants the world to see the filtered Khloe, the one wearing all the makeup with professionally styled hair and standing in perfect lighting. But not accepting herself as is without all the extras and loving the body that she has worked so hard to sculpt is not loving herself. I wish she could see and embrace her beauty. I wish she could see herself as we see her. This does not just go for Khloe though. I wish all humans could see, love, and accept themselves as they are!
Body Image is hard for everyone (males and females). We all have insecurities and desires for parts of us to be different than they are. But accepting what you cannot change and working to change what you can is truly the only way to create a positive relationship with the image staring back at you. Learn to love your body for all it does daily and not judge it for not meeting some unrealistic expectation of perfection. Our bodies are amazing and capable of doing amazing things each day.
It won’t happen overnight but work to develop a strong relationship with your body and watch how quickly the image changes. That reflection you see will start changing because you are seeing it in new light. And please don’t portray yourself as someone you’re not – that’s exhausting. You were created to be you just the way you are – naturally beautiful (no filters needed).
Real Life Talk 