Insecurity is a complicated thing. On one hand, you’ve got people calling you beautiful and asking why the guys aren’t banging down your door. On the other, you’ve got this strong and sometimes crippling sense of anxiety in your head; “Is my waist small enough?”, “Is my butt perky enough?”, “Are my hips full enough?” and a bunch of other concerns about yourself that you just can’t seem to get rid of. It’s annoying; believe me, I know.
Media has got females of all ages believing that they’re not good enough if they don’t have that slim, lean, ballerina-esque body that is, honestly, beautiful. But so is the curvy body, the skinny body, the muscular body and all the bodies on the spectrum. Self-confidence and empowerment are important tools for a girl to have in a day and age like this. You’re beautiful no matter what you look like and remember, what’s on the inside can make you a thousand times more beautiful than you already are.
But maybe media isn’t always bad. Various celebrities are using social media to break the definition of what a perfect body is (think Ashley Graham, Tess Holiday etc.). One such person is Alicia “The Empress” Napoleon, a world-class professional boxer with a WBC Silver Belt champion title and four knockouts on her record. She’s here to tell us that it doesn’t matter how you look as long as you’re strong, healthy and happy.
The Interview
In an interview with Allure magazine, she talked about how she has always been an athlete. “I was always naturally very muscular as a kid”, she recalls; “In fourth grade, I remember they used to call me thunder thighs and I used to cry a lot. They used to call me Big Al!”. She also mentions being on the baseball team as a child but being told she couldn’t pursue the sport professionally because she was a girl. However, she also mentions that she was the only one on the team who hit home runs.
“Without that adversity though, I wouldn’t be as strong as I am today.”, she reveals. She then proceeds to look straight at the camera and say, “Fear, if you let it, will control you. And I don’t like that feeling.” And isn’t that the thing gripping young females around the world today? The fear of not being accepted, not being loved, not being appreciated for what they look like?
She claims that girls should not be afraid of making their body stronger. It’s a beautiful thing and that’s what we’re meant to do. If you’re still doubtful of it, in the queen’s own words, someone’s gotta “slap the society out of you”. “I feel beautiful all the time. I love who I am, whether you like it or not.” Preach, girl.
Read the full article here.