Self Love Sunday… Watch Netflix’s Dumplin’

Welcome to Self Love Sunday! Here I will be sharing inspirational movies, podcasts, TV shows, articles, poems, personal essays, and other random thoughts that have lifted me up. Hopefully they have the same affect on you the next time you’re feeling a little down on yourself.

XO – Alex

“EVERY body is a swimsuit body.”

I’ve been all about empowering movies lately and Netflix’s Dumplin’ did not disappoint. I like to watch these kinds of movies alone with a big glass of wine with no phone. That way I can immerse myself in the lessons of the movie and—okay probably the most important reason—I can cry like a baby without anyone seeing me. But no matter if you choose to watch this movie alone, watch it with your children, watch it with your sisters or your friends, you will still learn from it a valuable lesson of self-love and self-confidence.

The gorgeous Danielle Macdonald plays Willowdean, the daughter of Jennifer Aniston’s Rosie—a former beauty queen and now works for the Miss Teen Bluebonnet beauty pageant. Willowdean is a plus-size teenager and throughout the movie we see the struggles she faces with her weight and her self-confidence. Until one day she is inspired to sign up for her mother’s Miss Teen Bluebonnet beauty pageant. She doesn’t do it for herself, but she does it to make a point, to make the point that “EVERY BODY IS A SWIMSUIT BODY.”

She unknowingly starts a revolution as three other “outcast” teenagers join the pageant with her. We get to watch these four beautiful young women face obstacles before them, see others tearing them down and how these trials only make them grow stronger. We get to see these women find themselves, learn to love who they are and what they’re bodies look like, and overcome their greatest obstacle—themselves.

This movie had that satisfying ending you really want, an empowering middle, inspiring female leads, and that charming southern twang we all wish we had.

“You’re sayin’ that every girl in this room is more deservin’ than me because I’m not built like them.” (Willowdean) We need to stop comparing ourselves to others. We need to stop comparing others to others. We are all unique and we are all deserving. Do what makes you happy and commit to that life no matter what people think. My body isn’t what society would deem as “perfect,” but—you know what?—my body is perfect because it’s my body and nobody else’s. My body can hike a mountain. My body keeps my heart beating. Your body can do the splits. Her body can balance on crutches. Her body is battling every moment to fight off breast cancer. Who cares whether you have curves, no curves, whether you’re short or tall—and I struggle to say “plus-size” or “skinny” because LABELS DON’T MATTER. Giving yourself a label to fit under or giving someone else a label to fit under automatically puts you into a box. You aren’t in a box. You’re FREE and BEAUTIFUL and Willowdean taught us that—now it’s your job to remember it!

““The world is filled with people that are gonna try to tell you who you are. But that’s for YOU to decide.”