When you take your clothes off, what do you see in the mirror?
Do you see something that you want to change? Like love handles? A muffin top? Thunder thighs? A too-big or too-small chest or booty? Is there too much fat in this place and not enough elsewhere? Do you see acne? Teeth that aren’t white enough or straight enough? Or, is there some other part of your body that you hate and view as ugly?
Why don’t you see the beautiful person that you are?
The fact is that there are only a few of us who see the beauty that we actually possess both inside and out. In our society, there is an unachievable standard of beauty that is posted on billboards and polished onto magazines everywhere. This “beautiful person” is skinny with the perfect proportions for every part of their body. Their face is always made up like they just walked out of a model photo-shoot. Every piece of clothing fits them so well that they could probably make a plastic Wal-Mart bag look like an outfit straight off the runway from Fashion Week. This symbol of beauty has everything right, but they are wrong in every way.
Few people actually look like that person on the cover of the magazines or on the front of the billboard or in that commercial or in that movie. Most people look average with few aspects of their body having equal proportions. Most people shun their bodies and despise themselves because they do not look like celebrities or models. They think they are ugly when they are naked, and they can’t stand living in their own skin. Most people are unhappy to be naked and be who they are.
Let’s face it, folks. One of the few people who love being naked and are truly happy about it is Mystique from X-Men. Sure, she is a selfish villain who fights the system in order to fulfill her own desires. But, she is naked, happy, and blue. Mystique is comfortable in her own skin, enough so to walk around in public and fight the greater good with no clothes on. Now, Mystique may be a fictional antagonist, but she is someone to take some life lessons from about beauty and happiness.
In X-Men: First Class, Mystique struggles with accepting her mutant nature as being apart of who she is. She feels uncomfortable with her natural state of being a blue-skinned, red-haired mutant, so she fights it until she realizes that it is essential to her identity. Then, she embraces it. Mystique’s conflict with her outer appearance is resolved by settling her battles with her inner appearance. After all, being beautiful is not about having the best hair or make-up or skin. Beauty is about being yourself. Real, true beauty is about accepting your differences as unique parts of who you are as a person.
The real reason Mystique is happy being naked- and blue– throughout the X-Men movies is because she is happy in her own skin. Although she is able to shape-shift into other people, Mystique always returns to her natural blue skin. She is proud of her differences because she knows she’s not like anyone else. She accepts that. But, before she becomes comfortable with her outside nakedness, she loves her inner nakedness. The true key to being naked and happy is how you view your inner nakedness. If you are happy with your naked soul, being happy with your naked body is sure to follow. Being confident with yourself is all about perspective and how you see you. Once you accept that you are who you are, then you can learn to love your body, fully clothed or nude just like Mystique.
Be proud of your nakedness.
Be happy for your body and life.
The next time you take your clothes off in front of the mirror, remember to see yourself as Mystique beautiful so that you can be both naked and happy.