“Don’t you worry your pretty little mind, people throw rocks at things that shine.” Taylor Swift

Happy Saturday LadyCode!

As some of you may know, I just graduated from Cornell last December and am now back in Malaysia for a short holiday before moving to New York City for good. Studying abroad for the past three and a half years has thought me that there is nothing better than spending the holidays with your family. I hope that you were all surrounded by the people you love for the holidays as well!

This week, I would like to share an experience that perhaps some of you can relate to and an important message to all of you strong, beautiful women. My family and I ran into an old friend of my father’s at a holiday party about a week back. After saying our hellos and how-do-you-dos, this elder gentlemen said to me, “Emilyn, you need to loose weight, you’ve gotten fatter.”

I was speechless and absolutely shocked at this man’s comment. This man was a family acquaintance, sure I have seen him at familial obligatory events and such, but other than that he was practically a stranger to me. How dare he make a remark about something as personal as a woman’s weight to her face, especially in this day and age.

Have I put on some weight? Maybe. Is it any of his business? Absolutely not. Admittedly, I succumbed to some holiday munching over Christmas and New Years (How can you not with all those fabulous holiday parties to attend??). But, I was stunned by this man’s ignorance, sexism and blunt objectification of a woman’s body. Would he have said the same thing to another man? No. So what makes it ok for him to say such a thing to a lady?

I chose to shrug of his comment and forgive him for his thoughtlessness because I am comfortable in my own skin and happy with the way I look. As far as I am concerned, how I look is no one else’s business but my own and I will not allow some stranger to tell me how I should look. I felt that is was important to share this experience with all of you here because I think it is important for all women to know that it is not ok for anyone, let alone a man, to tell you how you should look. We, here at Lady Code, strive to fight against this very kind of behavior. We serve to empower women everywhere and we certainly do not condone bullying.

If you have had a similar experience and you’d like to share it with us, please do tweet at me or leave a comment below. I would love to hear from you. But most importantly, I hope that you, too, will shrug it off and be confident exactly the way you are. I personally know women who have starved themselves to loose weight because of a similar comment that others have made and it makes me so sad to see their self-confidence shattered. Remember that no one can bring you down unless you allow them to. Be happy, be healthy and stay strong!

These photo was shortly after that gentlemen’s comment about my weight.

On a lighter note, try out a red lip with a matching red mani with an all black outfit for a sleek look. The red gives you just the pop of color you need. In this photo: Dior red lipstick and Dior nail color.