Once in a while, a reader floors me with their perspective and willingness to share their story.

It happened again today while reading Cals’ comment on In The Dark:

Lately, I’ve just tried putting things in perspective. When I look at myself in the mirror to evaluate how I’ve arranged things for the day, I try to narrow my basis of comparison.

Because no, I am not: A model, a movie star, or the airbrushed girl on the cover or in the pages of some magazine. And that is OK.

So, I ask myself how I look in terms of the average girl. Because, those are the women I see on the street, work with, interact with everyday and yes, get ridiculously jealous of sometimes.

9 times out of 10, I find that I’m pretty happy with what I see.

Barring that, I’m an artist. When other people’s fantasy depictions don’t give me a depiction of the world (and people) that I like. I fight back by making my own. I draw figures of queens and fairies with thicker waists, curves, a little meat on their thighs. Maybe even a little bit of a tummy, sometimes.

In short: I accept my reality and define my own fantasy.

Beautiful and perfect, just like the rest of us. Thank you, Cals!

On that note, we’re looking for contributors for our Out Of The Nest series. This means that we’d love some new guest posters to share their stories regarding their body image and perceptions — whether they’re optimal or not — or anything else relating to how the world sees bodies, beauty, or fashion. If you’re interested in writing something, or sharing something you’ve written with us, please shoot us an email at info@thedemoiselles.com!