The last few years have seen a paradigm shift when it comes to the perception of today’s beauty. When you open any of these fashion magazines, gone are the ads of super skinny models pushing size zero clothes that littered the same magazines in the past. Today’s idea of beautiful is a natural woman who may have unavoidable blemishes and is not the ideal size zero.
Did that woman ever exist anyway?
Today’s social media influencers come in all shapes and sizes, and they are not afraid to flaunt their blemishes, scars, and body sizes for that matter.
When years ago, these beauty brands magazines would get away with flaunting the tiny, skinny woman, in today’s world, body shaming might as well be a crime from the backlash that one will receive.
Plus-size models are now gracing these same magazine covers and on social media. There are no prototypical beautiful bodies anymore, and women are encouraged to be themselves.
Such is the case of Australia’s social media influencer and swimwear model Ariella Nyssa. From her over 200,000 followers on Instagram page, she posts unapologetic beauty shots and selfies that would, in other times, be considered risqué. This is because she suffers from cellulite, which is front and center in all of her shots.
In all honesty, when most of us hear of cellulite, we would not instantly envision a picture of beautiful. Afflicted women, will try to hide their disease from the public because of the poor reception it usually receives.
The lumpy dimpled flesh on the legs, thighs, buttocks, and hips is very unsightly and is a cause of embarrassment for many women who suffer from it.
When Ariella first started, she was under the same illusion and struggled to let herself shine because she was actually very self-conscious about her body.
Because at the time, she hated her body, Ariella went on a journey a few years ago to get rid of what she called an unhealthy and unattractive flaw.
This regimen included eliminating most of the foods she liked and doing a lot of cardio. This would be the prototypical solution for most people; however, a side effect was being left feeling weak and tired all the time. Her spirits and immune system was at an all-time low during most of this journey. She knew that if she did not make a change then it would drive her down a dark path.
This was when she decided to change her mindset and decided to see the cellulite not as an unwanted part of her body but as “battle scars” and something that defined her.
This new found self-love led her to ditch the unhealthy exercise and diet patterns and concentrate on a healthy workout regimen of weight lifting, a more nutritious diet, and a lot of self-love.
Today even though the cellulite has not gone away, she has no problem with it, and from her numerous bikini photos, she has learned to love her body. Of course, once in a while, she will get the online trolls who comment on her pictures about how she is just lazy and has an unhealthy lifestyle, which would be why she has cellulite.
To them, she touts what a healthy lifestyle she follows and encourages her followers to love their bodies regardless of any blemishes.
