“We have to lead by example. Instead of trying to fit an
impossible ideal, I took a personal inventory of all my healthy body parts for
which I am grateful:
- Straight Greek eyebrows. They start at the
hairline at my temple and, left unchecked, will grow straight across my face
and onto yours.
- A rounded belly that is pushed out by my rounded
posture no matter how many sit-ups I do. Which is mostly none.
- A wad of lower-back fat that never went away
after I lost my “baby weight.” One day in the next ten years, this back roll
will meet up with my front pooch, forever obscuring my small high waist, and I
will officially be my mother.
- Good strong legs with big gym teacher calves
that I got from walking pigeon-toed my whole life.”
-Tina Fey in Bossypants
I need a good laugh today. It’s been a few days of
introspection and reflection as we wrapped up another year, but today, I want
to laugh. So I turn to a woman who will always lead me to tear-filled, raw
laughter. Tina Fey is one of the funniest women I’ve encountered. From her days
on Saturday Night Live to her
performance in Baby Mama, this woman
always delivers. When her book Bossypants came out, I knew I had to
read it.
A friend let me borrow this book (which reminds me, I should
probably return it now), and I couldn’t read more than a few pages without
laughing out loud. If you just see the front cover from afar, you want to
smile. The portrait of Fey posing with large, perfectly placed male arms is
ridiculous and perfect. For the hilarious, successful woman that she is, this
fits her well.
I knew the book would be funny, but I didn’t consider how
closely her words would resonate with me. She talked about working hard,
relying on friends as your family, and pushing past barriers of sexism and
preferential treatment. Fey truly is an inspiring woman. And trust me, it feels
a little strange to include her in my list of influential women. She may not be
my “type” when it comes to female mentors, but she belongs on the list.
Fey is considered significant because she allowed me to take
myself a little less seriously. In a chapter titled “All Girls Must Be
Everything”, Fey draws attention to the insane expectations women are called to
live under. She comically points out all the various traits we must have and quickly
notes how impossible this perfect woman is. I love it. Of course the ideal
woman is ridiculous. For one thing, the ideal woman is subjective. Everyone has
a different idea of perfection. And for another, perfection is boring.
She states that we must lead by example. We, as women, must
show our daughters and sisters and friends that we are okay with ourselves. We
must be grateful for our bodies – even if it means taking ourselves less
seriously. It’s okay if we’re not perfect. And it’s okay if we call attention
to our imperfections in a good-natured, self-assured way. This list of Fey’s
body parts always makes me laugh. I love her attitude, and I love how she
inspires me to be thankful for the body God’s given me. So, in honor of Tina
Fey’s creative, inspiring list of favorite body parts, I want to share a few of
my own.
- Fair, no-sun-ever, mostly clear skin. I have
light skin – some may call it pale. I usually like to call it porcelain, but
that is just an effort to make me feel better about my inability to darken even
a shade or two. It’s good skin, though, even if it’s fair. It doesn’t produce
many blemishes, and it allows me to keep the same foundation all year.
- Large, narrow feet. Every time I walk into a
shoe store, I’m reminded how fortunate I am. All the small, feminine sizes get
bogged down with too many choices. They have to search through different
styles, colors, price ranges. The amount of cuteness is too much. How
exhausting. Over in the size nine and up sections, we have an easy decision
process. We have three, maybe four, options. And we don’t have to worry about
how good they look. They’re usually just sensible enough for us large-footed
women. It’s so much easier for us.
- Thick, dark hair that cooperates well. Though
it’s not naturally curly or exotic looking, my dark, cropped hair is pretty
great. I never wake up with bad hair days, and it looks good at different
lengths. Good work, hair.
- Small eyes that disappear when I smile. I do
love these eyes. Besides letting me see good things like cute babies and pretty
pictures, they are fairly unique. They come right from my Grandma Barrett, and
I will always love sharing this resemblance.
- Perpetually dry hands that have an abundance of
lines through the palms. Seriously. My palms look like atlases. There are so
many zigs and zags that you can feel them if you hold my hand. This is
especially notable when my husband’s baby-soft hands grasp mine. I can’t lotion
them enough to stay soft, and they appear as they might when I’m a grandmother.
But I love them. Again, they’re unique and they’re mine. Plus, they’re great
conversation starters. Or great for palm reading.
Tina Fey taught me to be thankful for my physical body. Even
with its imperfections and its need for improvement sometimes, it serves me
well. And it’s the one God gave me, so I choose to be grateful for it. Plus,
beauty isn’t that serious. I need to see the physical parts of myself more
lightly and give my body some grace. It’s a good one. Fair skin, big feet,
wrinkly hands, and all.