Today I encountered this meme 
and I raised an eyebrow.
This is my face. Maybe thinner and with more makeup but basically this woman, this look which is now so ubiquitous that people are tired of seeing it, is mine. I have dark hair and pronounced eyebrows, brown eyes, brown skin and big lips. Check out my Insta if you want the proof of it. And when I was a child and a teenager, this idea of beauty just wasn’t out there.
When I was nine my mother wrote a book called “Beware Princess!” about a princess with dark hair because all my books had blonde princesses. The books got better but digital media as taken a long time to be as inclusive of dark-browed ethnically ambiguous women.
When I was eleven I came up with the perfect wish: “I wish that gradually, over time, the human standard of beauty will change to increasingly resemble me.” I thought that was genius and genie-proof, unable to be twisted against me. I didn’t anticipate it would take thirty years for my wish to come true, but I woke up one day and it had.
I may not be one of the most beautiful women in the world with thousands of online followers but this idea of beauty, this kind of beauty, this face is one I recognise and can claim a share in.
So, no, I’m not tired of looking like this. This is my face. Deal with it.