You Don’t Have To Be Pretty

You’re probably wondering what’s so special about that tote bag that I have it plastered all over this post right? We’re getting to that.
That bag was my official “school bag” for the better part of last week, I got it at the African film festival i attended sometime late last month. I have a thing for tote bags and I thought/still think that this one was nice and artsy so I just had to have it.

The other day, a classmate made a comment about me carrying this ‘sack bag’ to school, about how it isn’t  “classy” and I can be a bit more “classy” than this. I’m sure he might have been joking but you know what they
say about how its what’s probably already in the mind that you push out right? Yeah, that.
It got me thinking really, but not before sending a smart mouthed reply his way.
Where did everyone come about this idea that as females we have to maintain a certain standard of “allure”?

What if I don’t want to be ‘classy’, whatever that might mean?
What if  I’ll rather wear a cross body bag to a birkin bag?
Or man-repelling to accentuating oufits?
What if I like my hair in a quiff and not as long wavy curls?
What if I’ll rather my lips be three shades darker instead of marilyn monroe red?
I can go on and on…

“You
don’t have to be pretty. You don’t owe prettiness to anyone. Not to
your partner, not to your co-workers, especially not to random men on
the street. You don’t owe it to your mother, you don’t owe it to your
children, you don’t owe it to civilization in general. Prettiness is not
a rent you pay for occupying a space marked “female-
Diana Vreeland”

Don’t get me wrong.
Be pretty, if you want to.
If  you’re about that pink and frilly life
By all means , be that and more!

But don’t tell me, I’m not classy for dressing how I want to as long as I’m not being indecent or smelly and unclean and I still understand what is appropriate for different occasions
Thank you!

On that note, I’ll end this by saying.

Be you,
Be you,
Be “unapologetically” you.

P.S – I wrote a post on something a tad bit similar, if you’ll like to read it Here


P.P.S – I was featured by the awesome Fola of Folasoasis, check it out.

Cassandra Ikegbune
Xoxo

Author: Cassie Daves

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