@helsyflores
In our modern era, when women get cellulite it’s a cause for shame. “How to get rid of cellulite” returns 3,580,000 results in only half a second on Google, and celebrities are bashed daily because of this. Some sites swear that some cream will do the job. I’ve also heard that women in France dry brush their legs to improve circulation and make it disappear. And others just tell you not to get your hopes up, you’re stuck with it for the rest of your life. But what’s most concerning is that pretty much every woman posting comments on these sites tell their story and end up with “I haven’t been able to wear shorts or skirts in years”. (Insert exclamation marks. Lots of them.)
We all know the media is not our friend; constantly setting (literally) impossible standards for us, making us see normal things as flaws, and weird things as normal (we all know about the thigh gap). Yet still we smile to the media and mutilate our bodies and minds while trying to reach these silly standards. The media is Regina George, and we’re Cady Heron.
Well, it’s time to set some records straight, and to do so I would like to quote Go Kaleo because I think it can’t be said any better:
Cellulite is not a ‘problem’. It is not a flaw. Cellulite is a normal function of the way women’s bodies store fat. 80-90% of women have cellulite to some degree. Lean women have cellulite, healthy women have cellulite, vegan women have cellulite, paleo women have cellulite, celebrities have cellulite, body builders have cellulite, bikini models have cellulite, women in isolated cultures who still live a hunter-gatherer lifestyle have cellulite, women with access to unlimited amounts of plastic surgery have cellulite. Most of the women reading this have cellulite. You’re not flawed. You’re normal.
Did you read that? It’s a normal body function, and 90% of women have it, regardless of their lifestyle. Do we feel weird or ashamed when our chests expand and contract during breathing? Nope. Just like our chests get bigger when our lungs are filled with air, our skin gets dimples when our cells are filled with fat. It’s normal. It’s natural. It doesn’t (necessarily) mean you’re lazy, or that you have poor circulation, or that you don’t drink enough water, or that you don’t exercise enough, or that you have an unhealthy diet. It means you’re a woman and that’s just how our bodies work. Even reaaally skinny women (and models!) have cellulite. Take a look.
So as fat cells get bigger (to store fat, duh), those little septae pull as tight as when those fat cells were smaller, and that results in a dimple. Men, on the other hand, are structured very differently and even in the rare event that they get cellulite (10% of them do), it won’t show because their skin is thicker.
Anyway. Even though we’re in the 21st century, experts still haven’t reached a consensus on many aspects about cellulite. Is it “curable”? Some surgeons, dermatologists, and whatnot tell you there’s nothing that can be done, “Just live with it”; others tell you they have this secret (super expensive) used-by-celebrities treatment that will leave your skin as new. Is it hereditary? Yes, blame your grandmother; no, you just eat a lot of junk. Will water, exercise and a healthy diet help? Yes; no, it’s hereditary. Blah, blah.
But facts are facts. Think about it. Celebrities have all the money (and pressure) in the world to look “flawless”, yet we still see most of them with cellulite. By “most of them” I mean all of them except Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, and Megan Fox, who I’m pretty sure are extraterrestrials because that’s the only logical explanation. But even hotties like Scarlett Johansson, Alessandra Ambrosio, Blake Lively, and Selena Gomez get cellulite.
Unfortunately, we can’t tell our bodies “Hey, that’s about enough fat on my legs, could you please send some of it to my boobs?”. So I’m sorry to inform you all we can do is be conscious that this is not something to feel ashamed of. Get the hell over it. It only looks “bad” because that’s what they’ve made it look like. Don’t be a Cady appeasing to some Regina George, wear that skirt or shorts or bikini you love that you’ve been too scared to take out. And either way, stay healthy and keep its appearance to the minimum by exercising, drinking plenty of water, exfoliating, keeping your skin moisturized, and eating well.
Lastly, another quote from Go Kaleo’s article (which inspired this one):
And here’s another thing, for the single women reading. Once a man has seen a couple real-life women naked, he knows that real-life women have cellulite and stretch marks and jiggly thighs and other normal little traits that the media tries to convince us are flaws. Men who expect women to be perfect are men who have more experience with porn and magazines and blow-up dolls than real-life women. Any man who judges your worth on the basis of the presence of cellulite is only doing you the favor of letting you know that he doesn’t have much experience with women, and that he isn’t worth your time. There are plenty of men out there who know what real-life women look like, and who will value you for who you are and not the dimpliness of your thighs. Do yourself the favor of not wasting your time on the former.
Helsy Flores 