Trash Talk: Mansplaining in the morning.

While driving down 20E every weekend I have the privilege of witnessing what seemingly is a homeless man “Living His best Life”

I always check and he is there.. under the underpass, laying on his back, one leg crossed over the other, reading a book and holding a McDonalds cup in the other hand. (My imagination tells me his pinky is up)

He is seen in that position so often that I imagined he was some sort of art.. a sculpture… but he is in fact a real man. Probably homeless, laying under the underpass UNBOTHERED.

I am reminded of this, this morning because of a Facebook post that I saw condemning women for wearing weaves and makeup causing them to be unreal. The post-er, after a check for understanding, confirmed his thoughts that the ‘realness’of a woman is determined by what she chooses to decorate herself with.

He continued to explain that it comes at the prompting of low self esteem. A woman is covering her problems with long hair, false eyelashes and make up and I believe what annoyed me most was this man thought that those were our problems. He mansplained to me that women used these methods to ‘fix’ ourselves even after I asked him…

What about the heart?

Self esteem is not a mirror issue. It is an issue that comes from the heart. An issue that takes root into our minds and tricks us into seeing something that isn’t true. The problems that many face are not simply surface issues. (Cause acne, right!) They are deeply rooted feelings of oneself established by experiences. Many of those experiences from men who see beauty as ones outward appearance.

Can we also take a moment to point out that self esteem is not remarkable, simply one on a LIST of many things that women face today.

Wearing makeup and hair extensions is not a direct reflection of self loathing. The same way a man cuts his hair, trims his beard and adds a nice watch to compliment his outfit is not covering for his, by this shallow standard, ugliness.

This brought me to the thought of the man under the highway bc outwardly you see a homeless man.. trash strewn around, bags piled under an underpass and think.. from the outside reflection, negatively about his situation. But there he is… on his back, legs crossed, reading a good book w what I imagine is a sweet tea from McDonalds held with his pinky up!

And everytime I see it, its beautiful.

Dont let someone judge you for your shell.
Dont let someone judge you for your shell.
Dont let someone judge you for your shell.

Decorate it as you please!

There are plenty of people who know that you are NOT a shell of a person and are willing to be deeper and go deeper into the beauty that you truly possess.

#YourRealFriend

StarringCourtny