In today’s society, women are being body-shamed more often than they should. Beauty standards are continually changing and therefore impossible to keep up with. Women are constantly obsessed with figuring out ways to prevent aging. They’re worried about how others will perceive them once their skin starts showing wrinkles. Even young girls are told to begin using anti-aging products in their teens so they can prevent the inevitable aging lines. Women like Sara Guerts, however, are trying to spread the message that all women are beautiful — no matter what body you were born with.Society’s definition of “perfect” is impractical. A woman can easily be deemed too thin or too big — it never stops.
They want to be so confident with their skin that they don’t feel like makeup is necessary to apply on a daily basis.
We’re told to purchase anti-aging products before we even reach our twenties so that we can “prevent” such aging early on.
Sara Geurts was born with a rare skin disease that causes her skin to sag at a very early age — before she even hits her thirties.
And the syndrome that Guerts has is one of the most rare types to ever be diagnosed. In the world today, there are only eight cases like Geurts.
The disorder creates a fault in the skin’s collagen’s cellular makeup. The lack of collagen causes the skin to sag as collagen gives the skin elasticity.
For individuals who have Ehlers-Danlos, however, their collagen has already began declining earlier on.
By accepting and expossing her unique skin condition to the world, she hopes to aid others in feeling more confident in the skin they were born in.
She wants to become a role model for others who have been diagnosed with the skin condition and help them with their journey towards acceptance.
The Instagram page, “LoveYourLines,” shared Geurts’ story and asked her to model for them.
LoveYourLines wanted to empower women who had stretch marks, unconventional scars, wrinkles and so forth.
People who thought she was beautiful began sending her their love and support. After all the good feedback, Geurts began believing that there was a lot of potential good she could do.
Now that she’s fully accepted herself, however, she wants to be open to the public about everything that has to do with her disease.
“Growing up, my family did not think there was anything specifically wrong with me, especially with it being branded as an invisible illness.”
“I was consistently pushed to the sidelines when trying to cope and learn about the effects of Ehlers and my future with it.”
Most people who did notice Geurts’ skin condition naturally assumed that she had experienced some type of weight flux that resulted in her “stretchy skin.”
In the past, she found herself hurting her body more than helping it, both mentally and physically.
As a result, her insecurities with her skin condition created a barrier that ultimately led to the end of the relationship.
“Upon serious self-evaluation, I realized my insecurities caused me to lack any confidence, which had an impact on all of my social and personal relationships.”
“This outlook transferred into a majority of my friendships/relationships, which then made them incapable of reaching their full potential.”
“I promised myself from then on I was going to be true to myself, love my body, love my disorder and most importantly, love myself.”
“After acknowledging the parts of myself I hated and shunned, my mentality slowly began to change, and the beauty within my flaws slowly began to appear. “
Geurts began thinking more about photography and how she could potentially use it to share her story and revelation to others.
Geurts strongly believes that scars and imperfections are just reminders of what everyone has been through as individuals. “We should not be urged to ‘cover them up’ or ‘remove them’ but instead glorify them!”
With all the diversifying, we’re happy to see a beautiful woman like Sara Geurts getting herself out there.
**To find out more about her amazing journey, watch the video below.**