Thank you Amazon. I could stop writing now, and an insanely obvious point would have already been made.
I combined my search results from earlier today into a comparison pic, because that image is worth exponentially more than a thousand words. Go to Amazon and replicate the search if you doubt me. It’s pretty stunning stuff (and I’m not referring to those highway hoochies).
As I am certain that you absolutely must know what all four of your “sexy mudflap guy” purchase options are, here you go. Please note that two of the four mudflap guy options aren’t even guys but actually more highway hoochies.
A few days ago I was searching for a funny vinyl sticker for the back of my car and happened to stumble across Mr. Mudflap. It was so ridiculously funny to me that I almost bought it for my car. Ultimately I came to the conclusion that Suburbia would have torches a blazin’ and pitchforks a stabbin’ before I would even be able to remove it from the backing. I opted for an alternate funny (a post for another day) but didn’t forget Mr. Mudflap. (He’s pretty freakin’ great, no?) (YES!)
A few more days went by, and my elementary aged daughter and I found ourselves at the magazine isle at the grocery store. I was searching for some Mad Libs kinds of game magazines that we could play as a family during tech turn off. Apparently Mad Libs aren’t a normal thing in stores anymore. SO. SAD. But do you know what is a normal thing? This….
vs.
The sad truth is that I wasn’t the person who noticed the stark differences in the magazine section. My young daughter smacked me to attention when she asked, “Mom, why are all of the women in these magazines dressed like that and why do they all talk about sex?”
We started looking at the magazines together and basically couldn’t stop finding scantily clad babes who looked like they desperately needed a good chicken fried steak. We moved to the magazines right next to them that were clearly aimed at guys. Notice all the man nips, shiny sweaty abs, and advice on how they can stay gorgeous and younger looking?? Yeah. Me neither. Even the dog magazine was free of tips on “how to stay attractive for your bitches.”
I was thinking about those images earlier today, and my daughter’s questions continued to haunt me. I was also quite annoyed at the strong possibility that I probably had more in common with the hunting dog than I did with the beach blanket bingo contestants. Thankfully I remembered my beloved mudflap man. The memory alone made me smile. But then I started to wonder how bad it might be, and thus the mudflap search on Amazon. Admittedly mudflap girl is a pretty specific hoochie, but the disparity in perceived norms for women versus men can be found in countless places.
To be clear, I have no beef at all with sex or sexy. On the contrary, I’m a fan, and I also completely appreciate wanting to feel attractive and be healthy. My issue is that feeling attractive and being healthy don’t have the slightest thing in common with the oversexualized plastic pinup that is being marketed as the standard. I am at a point in my life where I can recognize that the pictures been photoshopped and the sultry silhouette images are merely cartoons. However my young daughter sees these over and over again in stores and magazines and movies and TV shows. Although we teach her that this is not normal or real, mass marketing and the world of glamour and fashion tell her that this is exactly what she should see in her mirror.
Physical beauty is most certainly worthy of celebration, but brilliance, bold achievements, and true grit should be the aim. Those should be the covers we seek.
I don’t fault the magazine companies or stores. Not in the slightest. They create and stock what sells. The part that I can’t reconcile is why does it sell? Why are these markets thriving? Why are women so hell bent on achieving a standard that is anything but standard. Why don’t we address the problem while women are still young? Ask any parents with pre-teen daughters how much fun it isn’t to go shopping for Halloween costumes. This is the kind of crap we get to sift through…
“I’m sorry baby, but please remind me again which theme of ho you said you wanted to go with this year.”
Do we have this problem with our boys?
“Son, I think there’s something wrong with all of these boy costumes. Based on the girls’ section, these ones must have accidentally been made with three times the appropriate amount of fabric. Also they are all missing the thigh highs,” said No Mom EVER.
The two pics above were screenshots from my Google searches for costumes for women and costumes for men. Each group of costumes represents the leading items suggested for the specific gender.
There is a striking disparity in the expectations for achievements and physical attributes for men and women. I was incredibly blessed to be raised by parents who didn’t ever lead me to believe that my being a woman would be a detriment to me on any level. As a matter of a fact, my father went out of his way to make it abundantly clear that I should never forget that nothing could stop a smart and fierce woman from achieving anything she wanted. Decades have passed and yet those words resound in my ears constantly. I knew that he meant what he said, and that was the greatest gift he could have possibly given me. Every girl should hear this from the important people in her life, and if at all possible, she should hear it from the important men in her life.
Release the belief that achieving an unrealistic airbrushed standard is the ultimate goal. There are higher mountains to climb and greater missions to accomplish. If you want to make those climbs while sporting a string bikini and thigh highs, I say rock on my friend. If I had the bod and the confidence, I would do the same.
Just don’t confuse the wrapping for the real gift inside.
Know your true beauty. Own every single inch of it. And rise to your standard, not theirs.
With love and light always – Joanna
Grit
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Take the smallest amount of time to notice the magic that is woven into each day that you live. Look for the beauty everywhere you go and in everyone you meet. Every shot you take may not be what you hoped for, but every now and then, your willingness to give a little extra effort will leave you absolutely awestruck.
My primary window accent is typically a shelf bracket. Yes – shelf bracket. You screw them down into the window versus up into a shelf.
You wouldn’t think much to look at it. And of course that assumes that you would have even noticed it in the first place. Many people would walk right by and yet it would remain unseen. They don’t recognize the magic. The wonder. The amazing. It’s all within view if they can simply look a little harder.
How often do we degrade our perceptions of ourselves based on where we are in the moment? We criticize our physical appearances. We curse our life circumstances. We replay our sad choices and moments of humanity in our minds and declare ourselves unworthy or unlovable. We twist reality to meet our misconceptions and insecurities. We assume that the world sees us this way as well.
Momentum of Joy 
