I wonder if we will ever escape the judgment of other people for the way our bodies look. There is so much talk over what a “real” woman should look like, but a “real” woman is someone who is comfortable in her own skin and owns her own beauty. Women come in all shapes and sizes and colors. Some have more hair than others, some are afraid to show people what they really look like, and others are proud to show themselves off. None of them are safe from judgment, but the more courageous women become about their own bodies, the closer we get to showing the world that everyone is beautiful in their skin and no one deserves to be put down for who they are.
Suraiya Ali isn’t afraid to flaunt her style.
And that includes her natural beauty. But when she posted one particular picture to her Twitter, she received backlash and body shaming.
She captioned her photo “walmart underwear vibes.”
But no one was paying attention to her underwear. They were much more focused on her tummy.
People referred to her as Chewbacca.
Others tweeted at her to “shave pls”. One person made a comment that has been deleted saying “maybe instead of buying walmart underwear you should buy a razor”.
Suraiya came back saying she just really wanted to show off her hip to waist ratio.
For all the negativity she received, she got just as much if not more support. “If women want to embrace shaving, then shave,” said Suraiya. “If they want to embrace being hairy – awesome. I’m tired of constantly seeing women being put in a position of helplessness with their bodies. The narrative belongs to us, and so do the choices we make within the narrative.”
Main and collage image via Twitter / @iranikanjari
