Redefining beauty; Living with acne

Today's world is more conscious and switched on to body image than ever before. Where growing up in the noughties we were taught that ‘nothing tastes as good as skinny feels’, social media is now awash with body positive women of all shapes and sizes attempting to turn that nonsense on it’s head. Fitness bloggers and social media influencers tell us that food is healthy, that weighing scales are not and that you don’t have to be skinny to be beautiful. So in a lot of respects, media has come a long way in helping redefine societies' expectations of beauty. However, there's a big blemish shaped puzzle piece still missing. One that still carries a stigma of being unattractive and ugly. That is, acne. 

With an array of beauty bloggers out there who’s highlight is brighter than my future, we’re told that golden, glowing skin is beautiful. Anything else should be picked, removed, covered and not spoken of. Anything else is a flaw. By definition, a flaw is “an imperfection or weakness and especially one that detracts from the whole”. So while the acceptance of all body sizes and shapes is now in full swing, the very make up of our skin tone and texture welcomes scrutiny and embarrassment with open arms. 

As someone who has suffered with adult acne since last summer, I wouldn’t dream of leaving the house without a full layer of foundation, even to go to the gym. If I ever do choose to go out bare faced, (literally the only reason being to go to my local pizza shop after dark having got drunk, got home, got ready for bed, and then decided that pizza is a good idea) I’d make sure my hair was styled so I could walk around like Samara from The Ring.  I am literally ashamed and embarrassed to let anyone see me in my most natural state and the pressure I put on myself to look a certain, made-up way 24/7 is mentally draining. But really, how can you blame me when today’s world is driven by visual stimuli, and that driver is gorgeous, polished, seemingly perfect women?

Think about it, in movies, on subway advertisements, on Instagram, how regularly do you really see people whimsically and unashamedly showing their acne? I know the answer because I make an effort to look out for it myself, in a hope that one day we’ll get to a place where skin is accepted for skin and that is all. I won’t pretend that blemishes look great, because they don’t, but what I can’t get on board with is that there is still a stigma that suggests you are unhygienic or doing something wrong if you have them. It's a condition that's associated with greasy, careless teenagers but the reality couldn't be further from it. Do my spots offend you? Are they making you feel uncomfortable? Trust me, I’m much more disturbed by my physical defects than you are. The reality is, acne is a hormone deficiency, an actual medical problem; and one that falls under the ‘it’s embarrassing to suffer with this so let’s not talk about it’ umbrella. Well it’s time to call bullshit. 

Reducing beauty to porcelain, radiant skin is just as problematic as believing skinny is beautiful. It is more flawed than any of my spots will ever be. Yet if we’re not openly discussing it and thus normalizing it, how are we expected to get to a place where people literally feel comfortable in their skin. It's extremely difficult to convince yourself that you are 'normal' and as worthy as the girl next to you with no blemish or acne scar in sight, when society shys away from bringing it to the table. 

We’ve come a long way in redefining beauty and celebrating all shapes and sizes, but we’ve still got a huge distance to go. This blog post has exposed me to the world, literally warts and all, and I hope that by doing so, women and men suffering with acne or other skin conditions, will know they're not alone. It's time to hold your head high and start the conversation to redefine beauty and normalize acne, because ultimately, you are just as beautiful with or without your blemishes.