#3 ‘You’re not vain’ (so ‘Break the Stigma!’)
In attending the very timely and meaningful launch of BYS Cosmetics Philippines’ mental health support website www.BreakYourStigma.com, I am proposing a very slight change to the lyrics of Carly Simon’s classic 1972 hit “You’re so Vain” to “You’re not Vain.” For even if it is widely believed that the singer was referring to Hollywood legend Warren Beatty (whom she dated for a time) in the catchy single, the famous line has often been used to tease women who are deemed “maarte” by others.
In this day and age when mental health has become a crisis of global proportion, it just isn’t helpful to brand women struggling with image, confidence and shaming issues.
“It is for this reason that BYS Philippines decided to step up its efforts in mental health awareness,” said Angie Goyena, iFace, Inc. president, at the Break Your Stigma virtual launch. Her company is the sole distributor of Australia’s popular BYS cosmetics brand.
“BYS has always supported the agenda in the Philippines, not just through donations but also by lending its voice in the form of campaigns. This year, on its ninth anniversary in the country, the brand is bent on cementing its commitment to mental health advocacy.”
As many know, BYS stands for the brand’s call to “Be Yourself.”
“But it’s really hard to be yourself if and when you don’t love yourself or when your current self is going through something extremely difficult. It’s hard if you can’t break the stigma of acknowledging your internal pain and seeking help, and most importantly judging ourselves and others for not having a perfect mental health state,” Goyena continued.
In collaborating with several mental health advocate groups — one of them Dr. Honey Carandang’s Mindfulness, Love, and Compassion Institute for Psychosocial Services Inc. — BYS designed and mounted the web-based help line “to help break the barriers that deter people from acknowledging their mental health condition and seeking help.”
The digital platform is therefore dedicated to helping Filipinos gain access to a directory of mental health professionals they can connect with and other resources that can empower them to take control of their own healing.
With Dr. Carandang on hand at the launch, The T-Zone remembered the Carly Simon hit and asked, “Please differentiate vanity and self-care,” on behalf of all women out there who have made to feel guilty for attending to their looks, ergo their confidence.
The expert replied, “Yes, it is very, very important to stop that kind of thinking that is prevalent but not helpful to anyone. Taking care of yourself is not vanity but an essential thing that every person in the world must do — young, old, male, female, LGBT, whatever.
“A human being needs to take care of themselves regardless of how looks, gender, religion, etc., because it is a basic human need. As Thich Nhat Hanh the great mindfulness, spiritual leader says, ‘If you don’t take care of yourself, you really cannot take care of anybody else.’”
So sing it with me. You’re not vain, and if you need a bit more help in realizing that, go and join the conversations on www.BreakYourStigma.com.