Speaker 1: We are not put on this planet to weigh less
Speaker 1: and look a certain way and be society's you know,
Speaker 1: ideal of beauty. Sign Finally, make hello and welcome back
Speaker 1: to the Rise and Conquer Podcast. This is the podcast
Speaker 1: for my girl gang who want to take control of
Speaker 1: their lives, gain the confidence to live unapologetically, and for
Speaker 1: those who are ready to turn their biggest dreams into
Speaker 1: their reality. I'm your host, Georgie Stevenson. I'm a former lawyer,
Speaker 1: entrepreneur and personal development junkie. So, as you guys know,
Speaker 1: this podcast is called Rise and Conquer and it's all
Speaker 1: about empowering you to rise up and conquer different avenues
Speaker 1: of your life. I know it could be quite broad,
Speaker 1: but today I want to touch on something that I
Speaker 1: have been thinking a lot about in the last week,
Speaker 1: and it is just this huge, huge pressure that women
Speaker 1: face to be perfect and to look a certain way
Speaker 1: and to fit into a certain box. And this has
Speaker 1: come up for two reasons. Two reasons. So the first
Speaker 1: one is, as you guys may know or you may
Speaker 1: not know, but I recently had surgery and I had
Speaker 1: my breasts in plants removed after having them in for
Speaker 1: seven years. I was very young when I got them done.
Speaker 1: I was only nineteen, probably not even fully grown in
Speaker 1: that area. But basically I got them removed because of
Speaker 1: a health issue. So I have been I guess, you know,
Speaker 1: I have been getting into my own sword of brain
Speaker 1: and rethinking because I now look very different to how
Speaker 1: I used to look, and that is a transition in itself,
Speaker 1: and it's funny because I have these different thoughts come up,
Speaker 1: and I'm, you know, transitioning into that. And then also
Speaker 1: the other side of that is, since I have had
Speaker 1: it done, I have felt so much better and so
Speaker 1: much more myself. And I will be doing more of
Speaker 1: an episode on this at later dates, like maybe four
Speaker 1: months down the track, so I can give some like
Speaker 1: more conclusive evidence, But for now, I just know in
Speaker 1: my heart that this was the right thing to do,
Speaker 1: and that my implants weren't aiding my body in any way.
Speaker 1: I think my body was actually trying to fight them off,
Speaker 1: and because I do have some other stuff going on,
Speaker 1: it just wasn't a good mixture. So end of the story,
Speaker 1: this is not what this episode is about. I'm very
Speaker 1: happy my implants are out, but it is definitely a
Speaker 1: t transition. I'm someone who used to have these like perky,
Speaker 1: absolute perfect breasts and now they're very natural and I
Speaker 1: love them. But also something that has been happening is
Speaker 1: I'm having a lot of women and to my women
Speaker 1: and to my dms and kind of, you know, explain
Speaker 1: that they think they have breast implant illness. They're feeling
Speaker 1: really unwell and they're getting tests done and things don't
Speaker 1: make sense, but they don't know for sure. And they're
Speaker 1: also so scared of not having implants because like I said,
Speaker 1: you know, you get used to these like perfy, perky,
Speaker 1: perfect breasts and oh my god, I totally get it.
Speaker 1: Wait before I go into that. And then another reason
Speaker 1: two for this episode is this week I found out
Speaker 1: about a very kind of huge influencer who does talk
Speaker 1: a lot about body positivity and you know, being raw
Speaker 1: and real and very embrace the skin you're in sort
Speaker 1: of influencer. There has been some images that were photo
Speaker 1: shopped of her, and it just it just felt I was,
Speaker 1: for one, very shocked, and that it just felt very
Speaker 1: disappointing because I feel like as a society, and especially
Speaker 1: with social media especially, I feel like we've come such
Speaker 1: a long way with self love and embracing the skin
Speaker 1: we're in, but also like have we like I don't know,
Speaker 1: I just I just I feel almost this week, I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna lie, I've just felt a bit like down
Speaker 1: and a bit upset because at the moment, in this
Speaker 1: point in history, women are making the most money they've
Speaker 1: ever made, you know, their bread womeners of the relationship.
Speaker 1: I am a breadwinner of my relationship, and this is
Speaker 1: very much, you know, the first sort of time that
Speaker 1: this has happened, and I feel like we're making strives
Speaker 1: in so many areas, but then this aspect of appearance,
Speaker 1: I just yeah, like I've just been thinking about it
Speaker 1: a lot, So even in this episode, like I don't
Speaker 1: even have a lot of like, well, this is the answer,
Speaker 1: I guess I almost just wanted to bring it up
Speaker 1: to have a discussion. And I also I've already had
Speaker 1: this discussion in our Rights and Conker Facebook group, and
Speaker 1: it has been like so good to hear other women's
Speaker 1: experience of when they've had aha moments, of when they've
Speaker 1: realized just the the pressure and these unrealistic standards that
Speaker 1: we have put on ourselves as women to look a
Speaker 1: certain way and to be a certain way, and so
Speaker 1: I wanted to just go through kind of my process
Speaker 1: and what I have been doing this week to kind
Speaker 1: of help that out. And so, like I was saying,
Speaker 1: and sorry, I'm not reading off any notes, this is
Speaker 1: totally an impromptu sort of episode, but what I was
Speaker 1: talking about at the start when I'm having you know,
Speaker 1: women DM me saying they think their breast implants are
Speaker 1: making them sick, but they're just so scared of what
Speaker 1: they look like. Like I get it. I had that
Speaker 1: thought too, and it just makes me so sad that
Speaker 1: even if it meant you know, you feeling better and
Speaker 1: your health being better, we're still putting our appearance first
Speaker 1: and still seeing it as this you know, huge thing
Speaker 1: that is like all or nothing, and we must look
Speaker 1: a certain way to be accepted, because that's it's generally
Speaker 1: what it is like. If you think of why you
Speaker 1: want to look a certain way a certain way, and
Speaker 1: why you get certain beauty treatments and you know that
Speaker 1: sort of thing, it is well, for me personally, it's
Speaker 1: to either you know, be and this is just being
Speaker 1: very transparent, transparent and honest with you, like it's either
Speaker 1: to be accepted, it's either to get you know, attention
Speaker 1: that we think we should be getting, or it's this
Speaker 1: thing of not feeling good enough with your natural self,
Speaker 1: and that just makes me so sad. And I know
Speaker 1: it's the world, you know, we live in, but I
Speaker 1: think as and sometimes, like when I was thinking about
Speaker 1: this episode, I almost was like, not even gonna record
Speaker 1: it because I just thought, oh, what's the point. The
Speaker 1: patriarchy feels way too strong at this point. But I
Speaker 1: think just almost being reminded of this and reminded that
Speaker 1: as a woman like your sole purpose is not to
Speaker 1: be a certain weight or to look a certain way
Speaker 1: to please other people, is just such an important reminder
Speaker 1: that we often forget. And like I said, I've been
Speaker 1: going through a bit of transition of you know, looking
Speaker 1: in the mirror and seeing someone who looks different to
Speaker 1: how I've looked for the last seven years in regards
Speaker 1: to using my losing my implants. And trust me when
Speaker 1: I say, I don't mean that in a bad way,
Speaker 1: because honestly, I love my new boobs and my new
Speaker 1: body so much because it is one hundred percent georgy.
Speaker 1: And I do want to preface this and just say
Speaker 1: I am not throwing shame at anyone who gets breast
Speaker 1: in plants, who you know has a cosmetic procedure to
Speaker 1: change themselves, who photoshops themselves like anything like that. I'm
Speaker 1: not throwing shame at you at all, because I have
Speaker 1: felt the pressure myself, Like I still feel the pressure,
Speaker 1: and I get it. I get it, your friend, and
Speaker 1: it's like it's okay that it's honestly like not your fault.
Speaker 1: And so I'm not throwing shame at anyone with implants.
Speaker 1: Please don't ever think when I'm talking about this topic,
Speaker 1: just because I know I will, that it's anything like that.
Speaker 1: So I'm not throwing shame, but I just I want
Speaker 1: to talk about these things because, like I said in
Speaker 1: the end, all we really do have is our health,
Speaker 1: Like what's the point of looking a certain way if
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Speaker 1: And so I also when I had this conversation in
Speaker 1: my Rise and Conquer Facebook community, which honestly, guys, if
Speaker 1: you're not in there and you like the podcast, come
Speaker 1: and join us. It's this really nice safe space where
Speaker 1: we can talk about this sort of stuff and hear
Speaker 1: about others' opinions. And I was having this conversation with
Speaker 1: the RNC fam and lots of people had these really
Speaker 1: amazing moments, like when woman explained that, you know, through
Speaker 1: high school she is very pale and all she wanted
Speaker 1: to do was like b ten, so she would, you know,
Speaker 1: get sunburnt and like just wear fake ten all the time.
Speaker 1: And then she remembers like reading this article about beauty
Speaker 1: standards and how in Asian countries that the beauty standard
Speaker 1: is actually the more pale you are, the more beautiful
Speaker 1: you are. And it's so crazy to think that you know,
Speaker 1: this beauty standard of having big, fake, you know, perky
Speaker 1: boobs is like just it's something literally someone made up.
Speaker 1: And then we all like opted into this belief, I guess,
Speaker 1: and it's become a beauty standard. Another one in the
Speaker 1: Facebook group was a girl kind of saying, you know,
Speaker 1: when you go to work or somewhere and you're not
Speaker 1: wearing makeup and you get those comments from people who
Speaker 1: are like, oh, you look so tired or are you sick,
Speaker 1: It's like, no, this is literally what my face looks
Speaker 1: like naturally, and it's just because we don't see it.
Speaker 1: And so we had I had a really good conversation
Speaker 1: in the Facebook group, and it was really good to
Speaker 1: hear everyone's like aha moments and just really realizing that
Speaker 1: you know, beauty standards, it's really like it's not even
Speaker 1: a set thing, it's your perception. So you're almost placing
Speaker 1: these beauty standards on yourself. And so also in the group,
Speaker 1: someone had a great book recommendation. It's Women Don't Owe
Speaker 1: You Pretty by Florence Given, and I actually I have
Speaker 1: heard about that before, and I actually downloaded on audible
Speaker 1: and I'm a few chapters in and it is so good, guys.
Speaker 1: I cannot recommend it enough, like go get it on
Speaker 1: audible or book topia and have it as your Christmas
Speaker 1: because it's just it's such a good reminder. And so
Speaker 1: Florence basically unpacks the male gaze and really gets into
Speaker 1: why we feel the need to do certain beauty treatments
Speaker 1: and to look a certain way. And so I really
Speaker 1: wanted to just like jump on here and tell you
Speaker 1: guys that recommendation and also just remind you that, you know,
Speaker 1: wishing you looked a certain way or you weighed less
Speaker 1: all these different things is just like it's such, it
Speaker 1: can just be not can be. It is just such
Speaker 1: a waste of time. And it's just like we're putting
Speaker 1: these own pressures on ourselves. And you know, that's why
Speaker 1: when I was nineteen, I thought it was the best
Speaker 1: thing ever to go over to Thailand and to get
Speaker 1: implants without even thinking about my health or anything like that,
Speaker 1: because I just wanted to be accepted and I I
Speaker 1: just wanted to, you know, be in this certain Beau standard.
Speaker 1: And honestly, it's like I feel like the bar just
Speaker 1: keeps getting higher, and I'm just like I'm so tired
Speaker 1: I'm so I'm just so tired of it. Also, something
Speaker 1: I wanted to tell you guys is I've been doing
Speaker 1: something lately where uh and I think I've I've talked
Speaker 1: about this in a different episode, but it's basically this practice.
Speaker 1: And I got this from the book You Can Heal
Speaker 1: Your Life by Lewis Hay, another great book recommendation, and
Speaker 1: she explains this practice of looking in the mirror and
Speaker 1: giving yourself a compliment or an affirmation. And that's something
Speaker 1: that I have been doing with my transition since getting
Speaker 1: my implant removal surgery. Even though I feel like I
Speaker 1: have come, you know, such a long way and self love,
Speaker 1: you know, guys, my story of being really obsessed with
Speaker 1: dieting and being underweight and then getting all these health
Speaker 1: issues and all these different stuff. So even though I've
Speaker 1: come a long way in that regards, I feel like
Speaker 1: always kind of brushing up on this stuff, like reminding
Speaker 1: yourself and working on your self love muscle is just
Speaker 1: it's so important. And then especially during you know, Christmas time,
Speaker 1: where maybe we're seeing family that we haven't seen in
Speaker 1: a while who maybe say different comments about your life
Speaker 1: or your weight or you know, just rude stuff that
Speaker 1: you're like, oh, I just don't need this, and you know,
Speaker 1: feeling fear around Christmas time with relaxing and you know,
Speaker 1: eating more food and that sort of thing. I think
Speaker 1: it's just a good reminder to be like, we are
Speaker 1: not put on this planet to weigh less and look
Speaker 1: a certain way and be society's you know, ideal of beauty.
Speaker 1: Like it's just it is not our goal purpose. And
Speaker 1: I think it's just a great reminder. And like I said,
Speaker 1: so with that mirror exercise, it's like very simple. You
Speaker 1: literally just stand there and you look into your eyes,
Speaker 1: like your own eyes, and it's honestly, like when you
Speaker 1: first do it, it's super uncomfortable. It's really really uncomfortable. But
Speaker 1: I you know, I say the affirmations like I am beautiful,
Speaker 1: I am enough, I am supported, I am loved. I
Speaker 1: am so proud of myself, and I will say these
Speaker 1: things to myself just because, like I said, I think
Speaker 1: it's important. And I'm currently going through a bit of
Speaker 1: the transition and you know, getting used to this new
Speaker 1: body and like I said, do not get me wrong,
Speaker 1: I love my new small, natural boobies so much, and
Speaker 1: I feel like this whole surgery has been really great
Speaker 1: because it has made me get quite uncomfortable and it
Speaker 1: has made me have this like new found self love
Speaker 1: of myself to be like, oh my god, Georgia, I
Speaker 1: literally cannot believe what you put your health and body
Speaker 1: through in the name of wanting to have you know, bigger,
Speaker 1: perky boobs. And it's like, it's it's hard, guys, because
Speaker 1: we are quite surrounded by it, like it. Since my
Speaker 1: implant removal surgery, something I've noticed is like a lot
Speaker 1: of the influences and a lot and a lot of
Speaker 1: the you know, people I follow are you know, they're
Speaker 1: gorgeous and they're blonde, and they have implants, and they're
Speaker 1: just such this ideal of beauty. And I'm not, like
Speaker 1: I said, I'm not throwing shade or you know, anything
Speaker 1: like that. But even through this time, I've actually been
Speaker 1: muting quite a lot of people, not because I don't
Speaker 1: like them as people do. Not get me wrong, It's
Speaker 1: never about that. It's about protecting myself and just also
Speaker 1: realizing that, you know, we need to take responsibility of
Speaker 1: what we consume. So if you're on Instagram constantly consuming
Speaker 1: people who just look happy all the time who have
Speaker 1: big fake booms, who you know, basically look perfect all
Speaker 1: the time. You're going to feel a subconscious pressure or
Speaker 1: maybe it's conscious to look perfect all the time. So
Speaker 1: it's just about you know, rejigging in your life and
Speaker 1: being like, all right, let's just make sure you know
Speaker 1: the people I follow, the media I consume, and the
Speaker 1: stuff like I'm listening to and reading is not making
Speaker 1: me feel a certain way. And that's why I really
Speaker 1: wanted to recommend that book Women Don't Owe You Pretty
Speaker 1: by Florence given she is awesome. Also follow her on
Speaker 1: Instagram and also exercises that I've been doing. And also, guys,
Speaker 1: just a huge thing too is I'm not gonna get
Speaker 1: into it because let's be honest, this solo episode is
Speaker 1: going too long. But even though Christmas time is coming up,
Speaker 1: I used to be someone who's, like, you know, was
Speaker 1: really like, oh my god, Christmas time, what am I
Speaker 1: gonna eat? How am I gonna exercise? And stuff like that, Like,
Speaker 1: do not get caught up with that. Enjoy your Christmas time,
Speaker 1: enjoy your celebrations. Twenty twenty has not been a very
Speaker 1: great year for most of us, and you know, think
Speaker 1: about it, twenty twenty. We haven't been able to see
Speaker 1: our friends and family. And so if you do, if
Speaker 1: you are now able to see your friends and family, like,
Speaker 1: don't sit there, you know, thinking oh, how many calories
Speaker 1: does this you know, piece of cake have or anything
Speaker 1: like that, Like really, let's just get past that and
Speaker 1: know that we are meant for more rather than looking
Speaker 1: a certain way and fit into a certain box. We're
Speaker 1: just we're not doing it. R n C. Fam. We
Speaker 1: are moving on and we're moving up. We are rising
Speaker 1: and conquering always. But I am going to leave it there.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for listening. I know this is
Speaker 1: a bit of a random but it was on my
Speaker 1: heart and I just really wanted to give you guys
Speaker 1: this reminder because I have needed it this past week
Speaker 1: and usually if I've needed it, I know some of
Speaker 1: you made too, and I'm going to see you. I'm
Speaker 1: like s