Things That Are Not Wrong With YOu
by Rebecca Bobecca
You have gray hair.
Your hair is blonde.
You have brown hair.
You have no hair.
You have a bald spot.
You have hair on your arms.
You have hair on your legs.
You have pubic hair.
You do not have pubic hair.
Your eyebrows are too bushy.
Your eyebrows are too sparse.
Your eyebrows grow together.
Your eyebrows are uneven.
Your eyebrows are darker or lighter than your head hair.
Your eyelashes are too short.
Your eyelashes are too thin.
Your eyelashes are not curled up.
Your eyelashes are too thick.
You have hair on your chin.
You have hair on your lip.
You have hair on your forehead.
You have hair on your boobs.
You have hair on your back.
You have hair on your toes.
You have stray hairs any old where.
You have little hair any old where.
Your hair is straight.
Your hair is curly.
Your hair is imperfectly straight or curly.
Your hair is frizzy.
Your hair is limp.
Your hair is natural.
Your hair is processed.
Your hair is long.
Your hair is short.
Your hair has split ends.
Your hair is dry.
Your hair is oily.
Your hair is colored.
Your hair is unhighlighted.
Your hair is unclarified.
Your hair is grown by someone else, possibly someone synthetic.
Your skin is sallow.
Your skin is dark.
Your skin is pale.
Your skin has blemishes.
Your skin is ripply.
Your skin is dimply.
Your skin is wrinkled.
Your skin is not wrinkled.
Your skin is dewy.
Your skin is oily.
Your skin is dry.
Your skin is flaky.
Your skin is fine but has undertones.
Your skin is not uniformly colored.
The skin on your cheeks is skin colored.
The skin on your eyes is skin colored.
The skin on your elbows is dark, wrinkled, rough, or colored differently than the rest of your skin.
Your pores are visible.
Your skin has freckles.
Your skin has stretchmarks.
Your areolas are dark.
Your areolas are light.
Your areolas are big.
Your areolas are small.
Your areolas are bumpy.
Your nipples show through clothes.
Your nipples are inverted.
Your face is too small.
Your face is too wide.
Your face is too pointy.
Your face is too puffy.
Your eyes are not blue.
Your eyes are too blue.
The whites of your eyes are not perfectly white.
Your teeth are not bright white.
Your teeth are not close enough together.
Your teeth are too close together.
Your teeth are old.
Your lips are too thin.
Your lips are too thick.
Your lips are wrinkled.
Your lips are lip colored.
You are old.
You are young.
You are old and act young.
You are young and act old.
Your thighs touch.
Your knees touch.
Your legs touch from stem to stern.
Your legs don’t touch.
You have thick ankles.
Your veins are visible.
Your bones are visible.
Your upper arms jiggle.
You are different from other people.
You are just like other people.
None of these things is wrong with you. None of these things are right or wrong or good or bad, inherently—they’re just the ways that bodies ARE. And you know that, but it can be useful to hear that, maybe, because somebody is always going to be happy to tell you that your body is a mess. For every “problem area” somebody can sell you something to make you look better or feel better or hide or cover yourself. And we can tax and spend our money and our time to try to fix ourselves all we want, but sooner or later we’re all left with what we have to begin with.
And here’s the thing: do it if you want to. Hide or cover or buy or whatever; it’s nobody’s business but yours. If it makes you feel more presentable to the world we live in, that’s OK, because as messed up as it is we do all live in this messed-up world. And I guess that’s the point I’m trying to make: YOU ARE HUMAN AND YOU ARE ACCEPTABLE, no matter what touches and what jiggles and where your hair grows, and no matter whether you change it or hide it or embrace it or pretend to embrace it but secretly hate it. We all do that. We live in a world that makes sure we do that. But trust me: you are just fine. Now get out there and breathe and live and love and be, hairy knuckles and all.
Your hair is blonde.
You have brown hair.
You have no hair.
You have a bald spot.
You have hair on your arms.
You have hair on your legs.
You have pubic hair.
You do not have pubic hair.
Your eyebrows are too bushy.
Your eyebrows are too sparse.
Your eyebrows grow together.
Your eyebrows are uneven.
Your eyebrows are darker or lighter than your head hair.
Your eyelashes are too short.
Your eyelashes are too thin.
Your eyelashes are not curled up.
Your eyelashes are too thick.
You have hair on your chin.
You have hair on your lip.
You have hair on your forehead.
You have hair on your boobs.
You have hair on your back.
You have hair on your toes.
You have stray hairs any old where.
You have little hair any old where.
Your hair is straight.
Your hair is curly.
Your hair is imperfectly straight or curly.
Your hair is frizzy.
Your hair is limp.
Your hair is natural.
Your hair is processed.
Your hair is long.
Your hair is short.
Your hair has split ends.
Your hair is dry.
Your hair is oily.
Your hair is colored.
Your hair is unhighlighted.
Your hair is unclarified.
Your hair is grown by someone else, possibly someone synthetic.
Your skin is sallow.
Your skin is dark.
Your skin is pale.
Your skin has blemishes.
Your skin is ripply.
Your skin is dimply.
Your skin is wrinkled.
Your skin is not wrinkled.
Your skin is dewy.
Your skin is oily.
Your skin is dry.
Your skin is flaky.
Your skin is fine but has undertones.
Your skin is not uniformly colored.
The skin on your cheeks is skin colored.
The skin on your eyes is skin colored.
The skin on your elbows is dark, wrinkled, rough, or colored differently than the rest of your skin.
Your pores are visible.
Your skin has freckles.
Your skin has stretchmarks.
Your areolas are dark.
Your areolas are light.
Your areolas are big.
Your areolas are small.
Your areolas are bumpy.
Your nipples show through clothes.
Your nipples are inverted.
Your face is too small.
Your face is too wide.
Your face is too pointy.
Your face is too puffy.
Your eyes are not blue.
Your eyes are too blue.
The whites of your eyes are not perfectly white.
Your teeth are not bright white.
Your teeth are not close enough together.
Your teeth are too close together.
Your teeth are old.
Your lips are too thin.
Your lips are too thick.
Your lips are wrinkled.
Your lips are lip colored.
You are old.
You are young.
You are old and act young.
You are young and act old.
Your thighs touch.
Your knees touch.
Your legs touch from stem to stern.
Your legs don’t touch.
You have thick ankles.
Your veins are visible.
Your bones are visible.
Your upper arms jiggle.
You are different from other people.
You are just like other people.
None of these things is wrong with you. None of these things are right or wrong or good or bad, inherently—they’re just the ways that bodies ARE. And you know that, but it can be useful to hear that, maybe, because somebody is always going to be happy to tell you that your body is a mess. For every “problem area” somebody can sell you something to make you look better or feel better or hide or cover yourself. And we can tax and spend our money and our time to try to fix ourselves all we want, but sooner or later we’re all left with what we have to begin with.
And here’s the thing: do it if you want to. Hide or cover or buy or whatever; it’s nobody’s business but yours. If it makes you feel more presentable to the world we live in, that’s OK, because as messed up as it is we do all live in this messed-up world. And I guess that’s the point I’m trying to make: YOU ARE HUMAN AND YOU ARE ACCEPTABLE, no matter what touches and what jiggles and where your hair grows, and no matter whether you change it or hide it or embrace it or pretend to embrace it but secretly hate it. We all do that. We live in a world that makes sure we do that. But trust me: you are just fine. Now get out there and breathe and live and love and be, hairy knuckles and all.