Sunday's Brief Food for Thought

Emily Ratajkowski 

I'm overjoyed to announce that this post commences my new weekly series, "Food for Thought"! Moving forward, I intend to utilize Sundays as a day to provoke interesting conversation surrounding subject matter that intrigued me throughout the week.

I strive to interact with all of you further to grasp the material you covet and reflect that in my content. Furthermore, I aspire to incorporate my inclined audience in future posts to publish expansively intimate and note-worthy writing that appeals to you as individuals. In an effort to do so, I finalize this post with two questions that fuel introspection as well as possible discussion with myself or those around you. Anyways, that's my brief overview of what this series looks like in a nutshell and, on that note, let's start!

I couldn't resist featuring Emily Ratajkowski with a burning Gossip newspaper because it estheticizes many of the supremes I hope to encapsulate in my persona as a woman. As Taylor Swift notes in her new documentary, MISS AMERICANA, it occurs too often that women avoid publicizing their political views in fear of jeopardizing their careers. Ratajkowski has never been one to shy away from expressing herself in this manner. From proudly showcasing her armpit hair to advertise her essay for Harper's Bazaar and getting arrested protesting Brett Kavanaugh to launching her own brand, Inamorata; Ratajkowski has managed to repute herself as a respectable businesswoman, model, and activist. If you'd like to learn more about her experience acquiring esteem for her intelligence in the midst of society's focus on her outward sexiness, listen to her talk with Ashley Graham on the Pretty Big Deal podcast. I'm not at all too coy to say that both of these women reign as my ultimate girl crushes and inspirations!

More on the subject, sexiness manifests in different ways throughout our lives. In earlier years, obtaining a Barbie-dollish look, or that of Victoria's Secret models, encapsulated my notion of what it meant to be "sexy". As you can imagine, I was left to feel disappointed in many ways as I never fully met those standards. News that the VS show was canceled this year and Rihanna's lingerie line, Savage x Fenty; marketing to all body types, continually rising in popularity, reminds me that I'm not alone in this feeling. In the present day, many differentiating factors play into my notion of sexiness, including how my thinking style compliments those around me and the latter. All-in-all, being "sexy" shapes many of the behaviors we exude to express ourselves.

From a young age, I've demonstrated extreme willfulness in terms of my personal style. In other words, if I wanted to wear it; no one could stop me. Today, my sisters and I share many laughs over pictures of me carrying totes around in elementary school, such as the one below. Backpacks are for losers mom!

Another one of my family's favorites gives prominence to me wearing noticeable blush all over my face in middle school. I apologize to everyone that had to witness me during that phase; to say I looked like a clown would be putting it nicely. Luckily, my various phases have led me to identify what makes me feel most beautiful! Will I look back on photos of myself in ten years and cringe at what now makes me feel confident in my presentation to others? Most definitely, but that's part of what makes life so fulfilling! I've always admired my mother for this. Watching my mom and her sisters belly laugh as they reminisce over pictures of themselves with perms was a large source of happiness for me growing up. I think that the ability to not take oneself so seriously, and translate this to a means of connecting with others remains one of the greatest qualities a person can possess. Additionally, I find a lot of beauty in the risks that people take in their self-expression that leads to moments like these. It always makes me sad to still see articles headlined, "Who wore it better?", or, "Worst-Dressed", especially when they include locutions like, "ugly", targeted at celebrities. Beauty and style both remain highly individual, fluid concepts and need to be treated as such. If "ugly" and similar reverberations continue to exist in modern dialogues, we need to reframe them to empower others rather than the antithesis. For example, entitling your fashion house, "Acne Studios", to diminish the negative connotation of a word that normally counters societal beauty standards by corresponding beautiful clothing to its name. In my opinion, cruel judgment never commits much good; however, if we must, we should never employ surfaced ideals as a basis. Documentaries including Taylor Swift's new Miss Americana, the Goop Lab with Gwyneth Paltrow's episode on psychedelic therapy, and Kevin Hart's Don't F*ck This Up, have raised my awareness to the harm that these discernments do to individuals in the spotlight. We need to produce more intelligent and mindful content to not only allow for healthy self-expression but also to forgo conventions that hinder vulnerability and mental health awareness.

We touched on a lot of topics today, including Emily Ratajkowski's inspiring and unapologetic persona, my relationship with sexiness and phases, as well as reframing different ideals to allow for greater expression in dress and other utterances. What have been your favorite style risks that used to bring you confidence, or continue to in the present day? If you could change the societal dialogue to center around a new theme, what would it be?