My article on the beauty myth just got published on Lip Mag! You can find it here.
I was inspired to write this article after discussions with my teenage sister. Back when I was seventeen, I remember being worried about my grades, but it seems like the teens of today have far more on their minds. I know, we were all self-conscious teens back then, but I honestly do not remember being overly bothered by the rise of eating disorders, or media pressure to look a certain way i.e. THIN IS IN. Times have changed, and if I didn’t have the emotional resilience of a 29 year old, I would probably be very affected by all these toxic messages about body image.
For what it’s worth, I hope that if you’re reading this, and you have girls in your life whom you love, tell them that they’re already beautiful, as they are. Losing weight isn’t going to make them more worthy of love. That’s all too often a slippery slope into an eating disorder. If you do have a loved one who is suffering from an eating disorder, then seek help. The Butterfly Foundation is a wonderful institute that helps eating disorder suffers and their families.
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Published by Raidah Shah Idil
Raidah Shah Idil is a student counsellor, poet, writer, and creative instructor with a passion for YA (young adult), fantasy, sci-fi and detective fiction. She was born in Singapore and moved to Australia at the age of 12. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (English) and Bachelor of Science (Psychology) from the University of New South Wales in 2005.
After working as a marketing copywriter and studying the Islamic Sciences in Amman, Jordan for nearly two years, she returned to Sydney, got married, then moved to Malaysia. While working as a part-time tutor at Axiom Learning, she works as an online counsellor for Seekershub Global. She has completed her Diploma of Counselling through the Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors. Her full-time job is raising her baby daughter. Everything else is squeezed in between. Literally. Her writing has been published in The Feminist Wire, SISTERS magazine, Daily Life, Lip Mag and Venture Beat. Raidah’s poetry was recently published in the ‘Armed With Only Our Souls’ online DDFS chapbook by New York poet Caits Meissner. Her debut double-featured novel, “Finding Jamilah and the Story of Yusuf” was published by MyLegacy publications in early 2014.
In her spare time (ha), she reads, listens to audiobooks, goes on walks, and is always on the lookout for tasty noodle soup. She currently lives in a green, leafy suburb in Kuala Lumpur with her husband, three small children and mother-in-law.
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Raidah Shah Idil 
Wow! You say it, Raidah! This is one of your best articles! I absolutely love it. It’s powerful and truthful. You said everything that has been on my mind but in an even better way than I could have said it. My favorite paragraph:
“The basic message is this: if you’re a woman, you’re not enough. Because if you were, then you’d stop buying everything on display that will make you beautiful. And you will be beautiful only if you buy the latest hair product, makeup range, or weight loss program. Without these crutches, then you’re just not good enough. Look at the sheer humanity you manifest when you’re not dolled up to perfection before you step out the door. We wouldn’t want that.”
P.S. I like the new look of your blog 🙂 Happy blogging!
Aw, thanks Maryam! Yes, that’s one of my favourite paragraphs too. It’s a tough world for women, and we need to believe that we are enough, and teach our loved ones that they are too.