CONTROVERSIAL (Is it WRONG to tell the TRUTH?)

This well-intentioned woman is encouraging women to feel good about themselves, but can acceptance go too far?

We live in a culture that promotes acceptance – and punishes rejection – on the principle that acceptance is a good thing in and of itself. I disagree for two reasons:

1. False acceptance can blind people to what they need to know about themselves in order to grow.

2. Mandatory acceptance (say the nice thing or you’re fired) forces a lot of us to tolerate things we really, really don’t want in our lives, and that’s honestly pretty violent.

This woman is encouraging women to accept the appearance of their bodies, which is good, but in my opinion, she crosses the line into “you’re entitled to believe others agree.” The line between “I like myself” and “you have to like me” is the same as the line between “I deserve this” and “you owe me.” Let’s start being more clear about where that line is.