We’ve long loved Cara Delevingne, but—though she has always been a badass—we have to admit that we think of her as being beautiful before we think of any of her other (admirable) qualities. It seems the societal pressure to maintain an appearance that’s culturally defined as attractive has gotten to the actress and model, however, and she’s fighting back. Today, she posted an Instagram that questions standards of beauty and how we define ourselves around them. In doing so, we think she’s setting an incredible example for the many young women who follow her. In the photo, Cara appears with her head shaved, and the caption is: “It’s exhausting to be told what beauty should look like. I am tired of society defining beauty for us. Strip away the clothes, Wipe Off the make up, cut off the hair. Remove all the material possessions. Who are we? How are we defining beauty? What do we see as beautiful?” We can only imagine what it’s like to be in the public eye as a woman (particularly as one who’s made a name based on her physical appearance), since it’s tough enough for those of us who are just trying to look physically acceptable based on ever impossible standards in everyday life. We love this post because it’s making us question our own attachment to our looks, as well as all of the things we do daily just to be perceived as attractive. For obvious reasons, we don’t think it’s wrong to want to feel pretty, but we do know there’s something not quite right about how hard it is to do so. See Cara’s full post below.
