Backstreets back, alright? (A very random post)

CAUTION: If you're not a fan of the Backstreet boys this post is probably not for you, but feel free to stay out of curiosity or check out our other posts. I guarantee you will be entertained either way. That's a promise.
If you follow us on twitter it's no surprise that we (mostly me) are obsessed with the Backstreet Boys. So when I heard about the ABSolutely  fABuolous new video they released, I couldn't help but to release my inner preteen and scream like a fan girl at her first one direction concert.  If you need a better visual, this picture pretty much sums it up.

After I calmed down I thought I'd rave to you guys about how amazing this video actually is.
But first can we all just take a minute and appreciate the ab action we got going on here.....
 

You're welcome.

Back to reality, this video doesn't just showcase "The best of Brian", but the simplicity of the video and how it was put together helps maintain focus to the lyrics of the song, which are surprisingly beautiful and moving, Which also brings me back to why this post isn't so random after all. Here's a little snippet from the song:

"Gloves are off ready to fight.

Like a lion, I will survive.

Will I? Will I?

You gotta stand for something 

Even if you stand alone, don't be afraid 

it's gonna be alright."

The song was originally dedicated to their kids and you can tell with a lot of the lyrics. But it's the Backstreet Boys, and to me they somehow manged to take these seemingly one-sided lyrics and turned it into a message that everyone can relate too, all while showing off their toned bodies. Enough with the over analyzing, it's time to show you exactly what I'm talking about! So grab some comfort food(I prefer a nice hot brownie),  you can't just watch a music video without it, right?  and enjoy. I hope this makes your week a little bit better, Have a great Tuesday everyone!!!!!!!!!

     

Exposed: Feminism is it good or bad?

"Women belong in the house.....and the senate"

Feminism. I never really understood why feminism is such a controversial topic, but after some research the answer maybe closer than you think. When it comes to feminism people have many different views and opinions on the topic. Whether you're a strong supporter against gender discrimination or you think it's all an over-exaggerated mess, it can sometimes feel like there's no in between so you have to choose your stance based off of two extremely different views with extremely different morals, and that alone can cause controversy. But is that really the reason behind all the talk, I wanted to know what exactly did it mean to be a feminist, and with a lot of help from Google this is what I gathered.First let's start off with a definition shall we.  Feminism - A collection of movements and ideologies aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights for women. Basically a feminist promotes the equal rights of women in a lot of different ways. Which to me sounds pretty good right? But what I really wanted to know was the dirt, what was behind all the controversy? After what seemed like weeks (it was only 2 days) I finally started to unravel the wraps surrounding Feminism and I really started to understand the bigger picture here which is Feminism maybe a lot worse for women than it is good. Now don't get me wrong I'm all for the uprising of the women army but I'm starting to see how feminism is causing more problems in this war known as the "Battle of the sexes". Recently feminism has become a big part of society partially due to social media and technology, and has continue to grow because of the increase of explicit images portrayed in music videos, and songs. But with the growth of all of these campaigns and movements we've started to loose one important thing. Ourselves. Our happiness, our sense of morals and logic. Feminism revolves around educating the public about different issues, and eliminating gender discrimination. But in that same breath we've started to create more insecurities in women and controversy without even knowing it.Women deserve to be happy, to be strong and confident, and if you're happy being a housewife what's wrong with that? See, although I do agree with a lot of things feminism stands for, there are some things I just don't get. Just because a woman chooses to be a housewife, or chooses to not go to college doesn't mean they should be criticized or labeled as any less of a person. Sure you may not agree with their choice and yeah there are other options out there, but why even protest a decision if they're happy with their life? Who are we to judge what makes another person happy? Feminists are all about (like the definition said) "establishing and defending equal rights political, economic and social rights for women" So based off of that definition alone a woman choosing to be a housewife is just outlandish and insane. I honestly don't believe the problem here is feminism itself, because feminism does hold some really great values. I mean you can't disagree that there are distinctive gender roles and double standards between men and women in society. For example Where a man maybe considered a constructive boss, a woman holding the same position would be looked at as just bossy. They also educate the public and create domestic violence awareness which is always a good thing. But there's also a very fine line between adults trying to create equal rights among two genders and kindergartners arguing over whose finger painting project is better. It's really easy to confuse promoting equal rights with just promoting another gender. Me, I wouldn't consider myself a feminist. I believe that every woman should feel confident and beautiful, no matter what you look like, where you work, or what you believe in. I also believe that we're all human beings, we may be anatomically different but were still humans when it comes down to it and people need to realize that. Both men and women have insecurities about some of the same things like weight and appearance. We all have hopes and dreams and occasionally struggle from time to time. So my point is although feminism is a controversial topic it's not all bad. Some people are probably pulling apart every word I've said so far and that's OK. I want to hear your opinion on this rather touchy subject. So leave your opinions in the comments down below. I'm definitely not as educated as some of you guys are after all I did only spend two days doing research on this topic, so I can't wait to read your opinions and hear your definition of what feminism means. (also can someone please touch on the miley cyrus feminist role model thing, I definitely don't get that.) Anyway comments are now open for debate and don't forget to follow @beauty _breaking on twitter for more sneak peeks, tips, tricks. You know what we're Just a little bit of everything.(Picture above credited to the recently released Pantene commercial, I highly recommend checking it out!)

Are you a Biased beauty?

"You have to let go of who you were to become who you are."-Stacy London

Imagery- Using descriptive or figurative language especially in literary work.
Imagery to a writer is like a basket to a ball, one just can't exist without the other. Writers use imagery to help transform a long passage of just words into a vivid scene unraveling in your head, by using hidden descriptive words or phrases to help paint a mental picture. But some words don't need support from fancy figurative language to create this mental image because the meaning alone says it all. When you first read the words Makeup, Fitness, and Style, what picture do you paint in your head? A pretty face, A bombshell body, or modelesque clothing? Although our views may be different, these three topics all have one thing in common. They all have something to do with appearance or the way we present ourselves to other people. But the big question here is, Is this really a bad thing. If you've read any of our previous posts (if you haven't then you definitely should do that, only after you finish this post) you would know that last question we asked you pretty much contradicts everything we've written about so far. We try to show women you don't need makeup or the perfect body to feel beautiful and that your clothes don't define you as a person BUT wearing makeup, working out, and splurging on those sexy red stilettos you've had your eye on for years doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing. After some much needed soul searching and by soul searching I mean watching a marathon of "What not to wear" on Netflix, I began to realize something. The building block of every great outfit isn't in the makeup, the body, or even the outfit itself. A great outfit starts with confidence. Everything else is just an accessory. It's kinda like layering an outfit. Before you add any accessories, or clothing, you need to start with the basics or the "essentials" and then you can keep adding layers and layers until you feel happy about the way you look. In this situation when I say "essentials" I'm obviously referring to your confidence while all the accessories or clothing is referring to your makeup, body, or clothing. What we said in our previous posts are still true. You don't need makeup, a perfect body, or a professional stylist to feel good about yourself, because feeling good about yourself isn't about appearance but accepting that you are who you are and realizing that that's a wonderful thing. When you truly embrace who you are, wearing makeup isn't about hiding your insecurities but enhancing your natural features. Working out isn't about achieving the perfect model body but maintaining good health and your clothing isn't about setting trends but showcasing an amazing personality. Your personality. My main goal in creating this campaign was to help women everywhere no matter who you were or what you looked like feel confident in their own skin without creating bias towards another person views or interests in the process. I wanted to show you can support a positive self body image, wearing makeup, working out, and dressing up all at once with no bias or judgement. But remember there's a fine line between am I doing this for myself or am I doing this to please someone else. If you want to wear makeup do it because, one it makes you happy, two to enhance your natural beauty and not to combat your insecurities or to try to impress someone else, (Unless you're at a job interview, then please dress to impress) Exercise because you want to feel and look healthy not because you want to look like some Victoria's secret model, and pick clothing that makes you feel confident when you wear it, not just because that's whats in this season. When you start doing things for yourself and not other people you become your own person and suddenly all the judgement and disgusting comments become insignificant and irrelevant because you accept who you are and you value yourself inside and out which not only radiates to everyone around you, but can also help you in the dating department. So instead of listening to all the negative insults embrace the positive compliments. Stacy London said " Your self-esteem won't come from body parts. You need to step away from the mirror every once in a while and look for another reflection like the one in the eyes of the people who love you and admire you." And she's right people view you differently than you view yourself, so when you can get opinions from the people who admire who the most maybe, just maybe you'll be able to see yourself in a different light and finally start to accept who you are inside and out. Starting some time this month we will be posting more fitness tips and tricks to help you feel happy and healthy again. We're also getting ready for the #getfitforfebruary challenge starting this January (I hope you're ready for that!) So follow @beauty_breaking on twitter for more sneak peeks challenges and updates, Can't wait to hear from you all!!        

Break the mold of what it means to be beautiful!

I've been really excited write about this touchy subject. It affects women everywhere at any age and is the center of most women's insecurities. I'm talking about society's definition of what it means to be beautiful and let's be honest it's everywhere. On T.V.' s, computers, magazines,billboards, it's even spreading to our food! I don't care how good the model looks on my cereal box, as long as my cereal is fresh then I'm happy. It's on every women's mind every second of the day whether you're counting calories so you can fit in that little black dress or touching up makeup to keep up the illusion of a flawless face. It's an epidemic a disease and we're the primary carriers spreading it across the country like the plague.
Society is filled with misconceptions of what the perfect woman should look and act like and hasn't changed since what seems like the stone ages, and to make matters even worse social media and technology has become a huge part of society today. It's become strong enough to shut down businesses (R.I.P. Blockbuster) and has somehow managed to threaten the existence of books a staple in society since the beginning of time is now an endangered species. So when this mold was created (semi-unintentionally) by celebrities, models, commercials, etc, it stuck around like glue. Let's take a moment and think about what your definition of the "ideal woman" would be. Is she tall and skinny, curvy or toned with perfect hair and glowing skin, is she a glamorous celebrity, or none of the above? Now take a second again and pretend you're a man  (yes you read that correctly) you're given two women to choose from to take out on a date. One, is the always stunning and hilarious Rebel Wilson, the other the extremely talented and beautiful Nicole Scherzinger. You could only pick one to take out, so who would you choose? If you said Nicole than congratulations you just proved my point but if you picked Rebel than let's just say I wish there we're less hypothetical guys and more real guys in the world like you, but let's face it most guys will choose Nicole scherzinger for her perfect body, looks , talent, and.... money. It's the same situation for when a women that looks like let's say Nicole goes for a job interview against another women who looks like let's say Rebel. They're both equally qualified for this job based off of experience and the deciding factor comes down to first appearances, Nicole would probably get the job based off of looks alone. As wrong and superficial as it may sound it happens more than you know, it's happened to people I know and to people I barely even talk too. I know some of you reading this disagree with me and that is absolutely fine, but in my opinion we live in a society that bases everything off of first appearances or more like first glances and that itself can create insecurities in women of every age and that's one thing you can't deny.So what if we don't fit this mold of what's considered to be "beautiful"? What if we don't have perfect glowing skin or a Victoria's Secret body. What if we're not blonde bombshells and believe that being sexy doesn't include walking outside in shirts that could be a bra? What does that make us? Ugly or different, an outcast to society or a role model to young girls? To society we could be all of the above. You see, you have true genuine people who will accept you for who you are but then you have people who will judge you based off of what you wear or how you present yourself and don't even try to get to know the person behind the skin disease instead they see someone who looks or acts a little different and all the sudden you're a freak show. But in a world with a population of over 7 billion people you can't expect us all to be perfect. We all have flaws and we shouldn't be punished for something perfectly normal for a person to have, and you shouldn't punish yourself just because you look a certain way or because you prefer to listen to Backstreet boys instead of One Direction. Sure you're different but that's what makes us human no one's perfect so why are we trying so hard to be? By now I'm sure you understand how society depicts women through social media, but what we have yet to cover goes far beyond appearances. What am I talking about? I'm talking about jobs. Yes jobs.Women are well known for dominating the world of fashion and makeup. Some branch off to become teachers or nurses but when a woman breaks what's considered the new norm people make it seem like the universe was thrown off it's natural balance or the world is coming to an end. With this new era of women empowerment it's becoming more obvious that these gender roles have started to die off. To me one of the most inspiring sights to see is a woman working in a predominately male job space and still holding her own. I went over to pay our local firefighters a visit for the holidays and after hours of extremely detailed stories derived from their own experiences we sat down for our own version of a thanksgiving feast a day before thanksgiving. It was beautiful although we all were squished around a relatively small table for a relatively big group of people. As we ate, I couldn't help but realize the amount of women working in that house were almost but not quite equal to men .Whether they we're firefighters, paramedics, or just working behind the scenes the number of females there was a lot bigger than what I expected to see. It acme to me as a bit of a shock because normally when I think firefighter I naturally think of these hot guys in uniform off to save the day (Guilty I know.)  but in a way I wasn't surprised with the gender distribution going on here. Now more than ever women are taking opportunities that would've never been given or even offered to them because of their gender. And to see women go off in the military or volunteering as a firefighter and sacrificing their lives for ours is groundbreaking and the most inspiring sight to see. These women are people I look up too and hope my future children will too and hopefully not these celebrities people showcase as being the perfect role model even though I think that's unavoidable. Women aren't just showing up more in these professions but everywhere you can think of. Either as photographers or D.J.'s, some have even branched out into corporate offices taking spots usually only offered to men. I personally would've never guessed that would happen just by looking through what women we're put through in the past. Writing this post hit really close to home because if you don't fit this mold of what society has created of being "beautiful" then you risk the chance of being bullied or if you do decide to work in a predominately male job space you risk being hazed by male employees or coworkers. Surprisingly a lot of people throughout the world go through these situations on a daily basis and they can lead to a catastrophic ending that could've been prevented in the first place. I also wanted to touch base on a few modern day problems that the average woman faces everyday so people can start to understand what other people go through and can sort of put yourself in their shoes. I wanted to show girls this mold isn't permanent, we can change how society perceives the average the average woman but it all begins with YOU. If you believe all these comparisons that society's laid out for you on a silver platter, how can you prove to people you're beautiful the way you are if you don't believe it yourself? I know trying to believe it is hard especially if you're trying to find someone in this materialistic world you can relate too can be even harder. Especially if you try to do it all alone, that's why were here. To provide a non-biased site centered around you the way you are no matter how weird or different you maybe. Here all the judgement from the outside world fades away and is replaced with strength, encouragement, and love. We are human beings every single one of us we maybe different on the outside but in the inside we're all the same. And it's time to embrace that and were here to show you how. So now that the deep cheesy part is over don't forget to follow @beauty_breaking on twitter and tweet us your stories under the hashtag #breakthemold. Remember when you begin to love yourself everything else just falls into place.