If you're anything like me, you love a good helping of the newest dish of royal news. I mean, Meghan Markle is literally living my dream, and while her wedding was absolutely perfect, I'm still stuck on another member of the house of Windsor's wedding that happened a few weeks ago.
With the impending Halloween season shrouding its importance, William and Harry's cousin Eugenie was married on October 12th to her longtime beau. They had just as an extravagant reception and were even married at the same venue as Harry and Meghan, but the real item of the wedding I want to focus the attention onto is definitely Eugenie's gown. In particular, the lack of coverage on Eugenie's scoliosis corrective surgery scar on the back of the Christopher de Vos and Peter Pillotto gown.
Scoliosis is an unnatural curvature of the spine and is actually a widely popular back condition. Some more aggressive curves in the spine require surgery to correct, often leaving a child or adolescent with some new hardware in the back and a nasty looking, long scar. It's often inherited, and with Eugenie's family history of trying to maintain purity, scoliosis is not uncommon for her even with her royal status.
As women in society, and personally as a woman with a few scars, we usually take caution and try to cover them. Men can wear them proudly and with more ease while women tend to have the perception that we need to be completely flawless like a porcelain doll. Eugenie has the pressure of being a princess, socialite, and often role model for many young girls with aspiring dreams of being able to live her life. She is still a regular woman deep down, and she had the power and investments to acquire any dress she desired. But, she chose to embrace her scar.
Eugenie walked confidently down the aisle in her backless, gorgeous gown as everyone's eyes saw her scar. She chose to put it out there and loved herself with or without it.
In such a pristine, royal, and proper family, I dubbed Eugenie as a very unlikely and untraditional woman who spreads a message of body positivity. Usually, it is someone who is outspoken and of a lower status, like a celebrity or a public figure that catches the eye. They usually have to make a verbal statement that then brings attention to their unique attributes. But, Eugenie became one of those positivity spreaders by remaining silent, almost as a peaceful protestor. While remaining silent, she sent such a message that was so overlooked because she said nothing.
More girls should aspire to be like Eugenie. When people say we 'are asking for it' by the choice of our outfit, we shouldn't respond with a verbal rebuttal, but a silent one like the princess. We should continue to wear what we want, without fear, when we want. Because, if people can see past our externalities like our clothes and choice of makeup or hair color, they can see what we stand for in our morals, values, and personalities as humans. Evil is always recognized when some variable is always held constant and the effect of another is studied from a source. Much like our own silent statements, the less we speak and the more we continue to go about unbothered, sexual assault can be more fully recognized as well - without fear of being at the butt end of a horrible innuendo.
