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Taken from: Yahoo News

A woman goes an entire year without looking into a mirror to help herself improve her self-esteem after coming out of a ten-year struggle with an eating disorder.

Link. It's a video and a little lengthy, but it's worth a watch.

That's really interesting; I am glad she did it, and I like her body positive message. Although I'm confused as to why she wore makeup and got her hair professionally done... I mean, if the point is to stop worrying about how she looks, then isn't putting on makeup and getting her hair professionally done kind of defeating the whole purpose? Because whether she looks in the mirror or not, she's still having a daily routine of "I want other people to think that I am beautiful." I look in the mirror every day, but it's mostly just because the mirror is right in front of my face when I wash my hands or to make sure I rinsed all the soap off my face when I wash up before bed. I don't put on makeup or get my hair professionally done. Mirrors or not, that stuff seems kind of shallow and wasteful to me.

Most men do not wear makeup. I don't think most have their hair professionally styled either. But that doesn't mean they don't look presentable.

Some women don't wear makeup or have their hair professionally styled. But that doesn't mean that they don't look presentable either.

Similarly, a woman can wear make up and have her done and still not look presentable. If she hasn't showered in a month and is wearing a bikini to a job interview, all the makeup and hair stylists in the world probably aren't going to pull that off and make her look and smell presentable!

I don't wear makeup or have my hair professionally done. But that doesn't mean that I am a slob who isn't fit to leave my house. I shower every day. I wear clean clothes. I wear clothes that are appropriate to the situation. I wear deodorant. And I brush my teeth.

Makeup and professional hairdressers have nothing to do with looking presentable. All you really need to look (and smell!) presentable is a clean body and some clothes that are appropriate to the situation.

If the lady from this video has a history of serious eating disorders, then avoiding mirrors for a year is a really neat and creative idea. But if she's still putting on makeup, having her hair professionally done, having a bunch of other people tell her whether or not she looks ok, and wearing high heeled shoes that she looks like she can barely walk in, then just avoiding mirrors probably isn't going to do much in the long run. Because even though she's not checking in the mirror for herself, it sounds like she's still buying into sexist beauty standards and is still fixated on whether or not other people think she's pretty.

So while it's a neat idea and it's great that she's feeling good about the project right now, I don't think she's really dealing with her image issues or providing a great example for other women. I think we need to go way beyond this. We need to stop feeling like we need to do certain things just because we have a v****a. We need to stop caring so much about whether or not other people think we're pretty. We need to stop equating our self worth with how pretty other people think are. We need to stop spending so much time and money on things that promise to make us prettier to other people.

I guess I might have been more impressed if she was at least like, "I wear makeup for me, because I like it, so if I put it on all wonky, I don't really care." But to me, it just came across more like, "I'm not going to look in the mirror, but I still want people to think I am a pretty pretty girl, so let me know if I muss my mascara, ok? Teehee!" I mean, most of that video was about how difficult her beauty routine was with no mirror. It seemed like they only briefly touched on the bigger picture and how difficult other things were.

I don't mean to sound like I am bashing her. She's dealt with some major body issues, and she's trying to do something about it, and she's trying to share that something with other people. Great. That's more than can be said for a lot of people, and I don't want to bash her just for not going all the way. I don't go all the way for some things, and I wouldn't want to be bashed for it if I'm at least trying to do something, you know? I guess I just find it kind of weird that this the news station covered it to this extent when I think so many women have done so much more in terms of spreading the "love your body" message. This was almost more of a social experiment or a dare where a woman could just see if she could go about her normal routine without looking in a mirror.

Exactly, and that's the problem. There are very few women in America who accept and are comfortable with their natural body, their natural face, and their natural hair.


Only if you buy into the beauty standards, that's my point. Women should be striving for so much more than just looking pretty, regardless of what they are doing that day.


If I ever get married, then I will shower. I will brush my teeth. I will put on deodorant. And I will put on an outfit that's appropriate for a courthouse. Just because I have a v****a doesn't mean that I dream about a big wedding where I can wear a puffy white dress, a pound of makeup, and shoes that I can't even walk in so that I can pretend I am a princess and have people talk about how pretty I look.


Yes, it is very feminist. I think women are people. I think women should be treated like people. That's what feminism means. Is that honestly too radical of a notion for people here? I don't think women should be treated like sex objects. I think women should strive to be more than just pretty. I think women should feel good about their accomplishments and their actions rather than about how pretty other people think they are. I think women should stop comparing themselves to photoshopped women on magazine covers. I think women need to stop feeling like they have to shave just because they have a v****a. I think women need to stop believing the lies of the beauty industry. I think we need to stop throwing money at the beauty industry. Makeup is really nothing more than a company saying, "You're not pretty enough. People will like you more if you're pretty. If you give me some money, then I will make you prettier..." It's essentially a scam that teaches people to have a negative self image, then takes advantage of them for having that negative self image.


And that's why I said it would at least be better if she wore makeup because she liked it. But the video made it seem like everything she did was for the benefit of other people. Otherwise, why would she care so much how it came out?