Owning Her Unique Look
- Norwegian model Rada Prelevic, 18, was born with a birthmark underneath the hairline of her forehead that grows long hair. Instead of shaving it off, she chooses to embrace her unique trait despite people trolling her online.
- According to SurvivorNet’s body image experts, feeling beautiful is a state of mind as all of us are unique, and confidence is key to owning that.
- There are ways to create a more accepting relationship with yourself, such as looking in the mirror and focusing on the most positive elements of what you see.
“My comments sections are filled with hate. I receive hate daily online,” Prelevic told DailyMail‘s FEMAIL of what she faces after posting photos of herself. “People are super mean about it.”
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Added Prelevic, “I don’t feel safe anymore, because of a birthmark. I just don’t understand this world and this society today.”
Strangers message her private, writing lengthy messages that she should cut it or laser it. “One person even wrote to me that he would find me and cut it off while I’m asleep. That really scares me.”
But Prelevic refuses to give in to the pressure. “I’m not going to shave it off,” she shared in one post which received 2.4 million views. “I think it’s so pretty and I’m so lucky to have it.”
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Doubling down on her positive stance, she noted:
“You don’t see this every day and I love it. I don’t feel weird. I feel pretty and unique.”
Body Image and Acceptance
“Femininity is a state of mind,” celebrity stylist Ann Caruso previously told SurvivorNet of the many traits that makes one feel sexy. “There’s touch, there’s our eyes, a glance, the way we speak. It’s the curve of our body, it’s the way that we think. There are so many special things about being a woman.”
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Initially speaking about the changes women face during breast cancer, the message for survivors or non-survivors is the same. Don’t let anyone else tell you what is beautiful. There is nothing sexier than owning your look and feeling good in your own skin.
Dr. Marianna Strongin, a New York-based licensed clinical psychologist, also has some helpful advice. She encourages people to spend time in front of the mirror, which can help with body image.
Although “research has found that when looking in the mirror we are more likely to focus on the parts of our body we are dissatisfied with” which can cause “a negative self-view and lower self-esteem,” it’s important to look at the parts of your body that you love and the parts of your body that you don’t.
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Eventually, Dr. Strongin says this will help you create a more accepting relationship with yourself.
“Body image is both the mental picture that you have of your body and the way you feel about your body when you look in a mirror,” she said. “As you allow yourself to spend more time looking at all of you, you will begin having a new relationship with your body.”
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