Unapologetically You: Because Beauty Is Whatever You Say It Is
Riya Kumari | Feb 08, 2025, 23:56 IST
Real Beauty
( Image credit : Pexels )
Highlight of the story: There is a quiet exhaustion in being a woman. It’s in the way we instinctively pull down our dress when we sit. The way we check our reflection before stepping out—not for ourselves, but for the world. The way we say, “I feel so ugly today” when we mean, “I don’t look how they expect me to.” From the moment we are old enough to understand words, we are taught that beauty is a currency, and our worth is tied to how well we spend it.
If no one was there to judge, to comment, to whisper—how would you move through the world? Would you wear that dress? Would you skip the makeup? Would you run your hands over your unshaved skin and feel nothing but yourself beneath your fingertips?
Would you finally be free?
How Much of Your Life Have You Spent Apologizing for Existing
Think back to the first time you felt self-conscious about the way you looked.
Maybe you were a child, running around carefree, when someone commented on your weight. Maybe you were a teenager, excited to wear your first dress, only to hear, "That doesn’t suit your body type." Maybe you were a woman in a room full of others, scanning faces to see if you looked “good enough” to belong. Somewhere along the way, you learned that beauty wasn’t just about being—it was about fixing. That you weren’t born beautiful, you had to become it. And so, you started apologizing.
Apologizing by shaving your legs before wearing shorts, just in case.
Apologizing by adjusting your top so it wouldn’t draw too much attention.
Apologizing by sucking in your stomach in photos, sitting a little straighter, making sure you were “put together” before stepping outside.
Even on the days you felt beautiful, you questioned it. Because what if the world didn’t agree?
Who Were You Before They Told You Who to Be
Do you remember her? The little girl who didn’t check mirrors before leaving the house? Who ran wild with tangled hair, laughed with her mouth wide open, and didn’t wonder if she was taking up too much space? She never thought about whether she was too hairy, too dark, too big, too small. She just was. But then came the lessons.
"You need to start waxing now, you’re getting older."
"That dress is a little short, don’t you think?"
"A little makeup wouldn’t hurt."
"You’ve put on some weight, maybe try cutting down a little."
So you listened. You shrank yourself. You measured your worth against numbers on a scale, the smoothness of your skin, the approval in someone else’s eyes. And every time you erased a part of yourself to be more acceptable, you lost another piece of her.
What If You Weren’t Trying to Be Beautiful—What If You Just Were
Imagine waking up one day and deciding:
No, I’m not shaving today.
No, I’m not putting on makeup.
No, I’m not wearing something to hide my body.
No, I’m not apologizing for existing exactly as I am.
And imagine stepping outside, feeling the breeze on your skin, feeling the weight of expectations slip off your shoulders, realizing—nothing bad happened. The world didn’t end. People still spoke to you. Life went on. Except now, you weren’t spending every second of it wondering if you were enough. Because you always were.
Men Just Exist. Why Can’t We
Have you ever noticed how effortlessly men move through the world? No one tells them they need to smell like vanilla and roses. No one expects them to spend an hour getting ready just to look “presentable.” No one makes them feel like their body is an apology waiting to happen. They show up as they are. And the world lets them. Women, on the other hand, have to earn their place in the room. We have to be soft but not too soft, confident but not intimidating, natural but not unkempt, pretty but not vain.
What if we stopped playing along?
What if we stopped treating beauty like a performance and just… were?
You Were Never Supposed to Spend Your Life Editing Yourself
Think about all the things you didn’t do because you were worried about how you looked.
The beach trips you skipped because you weren’t “bikini-ready.”
The nights you hesitated to go out because you didn’t feel “put together.”
The photos you deleted because your arms looked “big.”
The food you avoided because you feared judgment.
Now, think about all the living you missed because you were too busy fixing yourself.
A lifetime spent adjusting, trimming, concealing—when you could have just been existing. Let this be the day you stop. Let this be the day you wear what you want, take up space, leave your body as it is, and let go of the need to be "better" when you were already whole.
Because beauty isn’t a checklist.
It isn’t a standard.
It isn’t something to be earned.
It’s you—as you are, unfiltered, untouched, undeniable. And that? That is more than enough.
Would you finally be free?
How Much of Your Life Have You Spent Apologizing for Existing
Makeup
( Image credit : Pexels )
Think back to the first time you felt self-conscious about the way you looked.
Maybe you were a child, running around carefree, when someone commented on your weight. Maybe you were a teenager, excited to wear your first dress, only to hear, "That doesn’t suit your body type." Maybe you were a woman in a room full of others, scanning faces to see if you looked “good enough” to belong. Somewhere along the way, you learned that beauty wasn’t just about being—it was about fixing. That you weren’t born beautiful, you had to become it. And so, you started apologizing.
Apologizing by shaving your legs before wearing shorts, just in case.
Apologizing by adjusting your top so it wouldn’t draw too much attention.
Apologizing by sucking in your stomach in photos, sitting a little straighter, making sure you were “put together” before stepping outside.
Even on the days you felt beautiful, you questioned it. Because what if the world didn’t agree?
Who Were You Before They Told You Who to Be
Heels
( Image credit : Pexels )
Do you remember her? The little girl who didn’t check mirrors before leaving the house? Who ran wild with tangled hair, laughed with her mouth wide open, and didn’t wonder if she was taking up too much space? She never thought about whether she was too hairy, too dark, too big, too small. She just was. But then came the lessons.
"You need to start waxing now, you’re getting older."
"That dress is a little short, don’t you think?"
"A little makeup wouldn’t hurt."
"You’ve put on some weight, maybe try cutting down a little."
So you listened. You shrank yourself. You measured your worth against numbers on a scale, the smoothness of your skin, the approval in someone else’s eyes. And every time you erased a part of yourself to be more acceptable, you lost another piece of her.
What If You Weren’t Trying to Be Beautiful—What If You Just Were
Mirror
( Image credit : Pexels )
Imagine waking up one day and deciding:
No, I’m not shaving today.
No, I’m not putting on makeup.
No, I’m not wearing something to hide my body.
No, I’m not apologizing for existing exactly as I am.
And imagine stepping outside, feeling the breeze on your skin, feeling the weight of expectations slip off your shoulders, realizing—nothing bad happened. The world didn’t end. People still spoke to you. Life went on. Except now, you weren’t spending every second of it wondering if you were enough. Because you always were.
Men Just Exist. Why Can’t We
Salon
( Image credit : Pexels )
Have you ever noticed how effortlessly men move through the world? No one tells them they need to smell like vanilla and roses. No one expects them to spend an hour getting ready just to look “presentable.” No one makes them feel like their body is an apology waiting to happen. They show up as they are. And the world lets them. Women, on the other hand, have to earn their place in the room. We have to be soft but not too soft, confident but not intimidating, natural but not unkempt, pretty but not vain.
What if we stopped playing along?
What if we stopped treating beauty like a performance and just… were?
You Were Never Supposed to Spend Your Life Editing Yourself
Waist
( Image credit : Pexels )
Think about all the things you didn’t do because you were worried about how you looked.
The beach trips you skipped because you weren’t “bikini-ready.”
The nights you hesitated to go out because you didn’t feel “put together.”
The photos you deleted because your arms looked “big.”
The food you avoided because you feared judgment.
Now, think about all the living you missed because you were too busy fixing yourself.
A lifetime spent adjusting, trimming, concealing—when you could have just been existing. Let this be the day you stop. Let this be the day you wear what you want, take up space, leave your body as it is, and let go of the need to be "better" when you were already whole.
Because beauty isn’t a checklist.
It isn’t a standard.
It isn’t something to be earned.
It’s you—as you are, unfiltered, untouched, undeniable. And that? That is more than enough.