As a younger woman, that pressure got me down, but I've made my peace with it. With airbrushing and digital manipulation, fashion can project an unobtainable image that's dangerously unhealthy. I'm excited about the ageing process. I'm more interested in women who aren't perfect. They're more compelling.
Interpretation
The quote reflects a journey towards self-acceptance and a critique of unrealistic beauty standards in fashion.
Emma Watson shares her experiences with societal pressures regarding beauty in her youth, expressing how these pressures affected her mental health. However, she has learned to embrace the reality of aging and appreciates the beauty in imperfection, finding deeper interest in women's authentic selves rather than their adherence to unrealistic standards perpetuated by media and fashion photography.
In practice
This quote can be used during a women's empowerment event to highlight the importance of embracing one's true self.
Becoming yourself is really hard and confusing, and it's a process. I was completely the eager beaver in school, I was the girl in the front of the class who was the first person to put her hand up, and it's often not cool to be the person that puts themself out there, and I've often gotten teased mercilessly, but I found that ultimately if you truly pour your heart into what you believe in - even if it makes you vulnerable - amazing things can and will happen.
Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and women should feel free to be strong... It is time that we all perceive gender on a spectrum not as two opposing sets of ideals.
I've never wanted to grow up too fast. I wanted to wear a sports bra until I was 22! ... The allure of being sexy never really held any excitement for me. I've never been in a terrible rush to be seen as a woman.
Don't be ashamed if you don't like what others pretend to love
Feminism is not here to dictate to you. It’s not prescriptive, it’s not dogmatic. All we are here to do is give you a choice. If you want to run for President, you can. If you don’t, that’s wonderful, too. I’m lucky I was raised to believe that my opinion at the dinner table was valuable. My mum and I spoke as loudly as my brothers.
Men think it's a women's word. But what it means is that you believe in equality, and if you stand for equality, then you're a feminist. Sorry to tell you. You're a feminist. You're a feminist. That's it.
When those deserving of Paradise would enter Paradise, the Blessed and the Exalted would ask: Do you wish Me to give you anything more? They would say: Hast Thou not brightened our faces? Hast Thou not made us enter Paradise and saved us from Fire? He would lift the veil, and of things given to them nothing would be dearer to them than the sight of their Lord, the Mighty and the Glorious.
The man of virtuous soul commands not, nor obeys.
Jealousy is the greatest of all evils, and the one that arouses the least pity in the person who causes it.
In argument similes are like songs in love; they describe much, but prove nothing.
Let us not forget that the cultivation of the earth is the most important labor of man. When tillage begins, other arts will follow. The farmers, therefore, are the founders of civilization.
If you don't stick to your values when they're being tested, they're not values: they're hobbies.
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