One of the most telling song’s I have heard in a very long time is Jonny Diaz’s “Beautiful You”. It’s always hits a chord with me not just because of the message to teenage girls, but the message to women in general. We all hear about the pressure women face on a daily basis; that pressure isn’t limited to twenty-somethings, all women/girls feel pressure to be what has been depicted in media & print to be real. The touch of reality to many is so far gone that what you see is never what you get anymore.

“Little girl fourteen flipping through a magazine says she wants to look that way. But her hair isn’t straight, her body isn’t fake, & she’s always felt overweight….Little girl twenty-one the things you’ve already, anything to get ahead & you say you’ve got a man but he’s got another plan & only wants what you will do instead…Well little girl twenty-one you never thought that this would come, you starve yourself to play the part.”

This weekend at a meeting with a Senior Rep, I told her my guidelines for pictures…no short shorts/skirts, no cleavage, no rearends, no bellies. I told her “I don’t do sexy with seniors”. While that doesn’t seem like her style at all, I said a little prayer as I was looking into her beautiful face giving my “speech” that I could meet many, many more girls like her.

So girls when your choosing outfits for your sessions & looking at pictures you like, please remember, you ARE beautiful the way you are, the way God made you.

“There could never be a more beautiful you. Don’t buy the lies, disguises & hoops, they make you jump through. You were made to fill a purpose that only you could do…But I can promise you there’s a man who love is true & he’ll treat you like the jewel you are. There could never be a more beautiful you!”