women beauty editorial.

what is a real woman to you?

"A real women is a human being from the feminine gender made of flesh and bone. A real women is every women of the world. With one, two, or no arms at all. The skinny and the fat women. The models and the teachers. The struggle in answering the question "what is a real women" is associated to the struggle of being a women nowadays. We dive in a well searching for a perfection designed by society, instead of following the easiest way and grab our own perfect at the surface. We go to bed with the guilt of that chocolate we ate and that hunts us all night and won't let us smile. We allow ourselves to listen to devils that tell us that we are running out of time. We want to be just like the girl next door and sometimes the envy can blind us. We demand so much from us that we believe the expectation to be the same as hapiness, without enjoying the today." — mafalda

"First of all, I do not think there are fake women or real women. There are women in the world, period. Fat, thin, short, tall, white, black, blond, brunette and all in between. Trans, homo, hetero, queer. More feminine, more masculine, it doesn't matter. We are all real women, in our individuality and uniqueness. For years we have been oppressed, many still are, that is why it is so vital to unite and show to the world we deserve to not feel like the weak gender (because we definitely are not). It's time that women around the world feel free to do and look like whatever they want even if that means it won't please men or fit with the rules that have been dictated for us. Since little girls we have been told to look a certain way, to act in a specific manner because that is what is considered beautiful. That is why it is so challenging to break with these standards and patterns, because they basically have become a part of who we are. It desperately needs to change. I don't want to live in a world where my future daughters are taught to hate themselves because they don't look like the girls on magazines, instagram or tv. Women need to be taught to love themselves no matter how they look. No matter how we look. Because we are all real, no matter our shapes, sizes or the choices we make in our lives." — joana

"A real woman is someone who has an incredible sense of self knowledge and is not afraid to show who she truly is. All her traits, beautiful or ugly, all of her moods, happy or sad, all of her moments, spontaneous or angry, all of them contribute to who she is and what she represents. A real woman knows her strengths and qualities but also her fears, her weaknesses and her vulnerability and she embraces them all, proudly. A real woman is confident about who she was, who she is and who she will be. Every time she looks in the mirror, her self-knowledge and courage to accept who she is, gives her the shine and glow that makes her appearance. A real woman can see her physical flaws and acknowledge her inner emotional ones. A real woman is not afraid to admit their imperfections, however, more importantly, she does not define herself by them. She does not assume that her few imperfections diminish her qualities and inner strength and beauty." — patrícia

"Our existence is what makes us real. The fashion industry and the media have tried to make us think otherwise - we are faced with campaigns claiming that real bodies are only the ones with more shape, more fat, more this or more that. The truth is, any shape of women with flesh, muscles, bones and a beating heart, in any quantity - anyone of these type of living beings is a women. All the women around you? Real. We should not let anyone try to make us believe otherwise!" — ana

being a real woman is existing, period.

photography, styling and creative direction ana sem lógica / makeup catarina joão vieira / concept ana sem lógica and blue velvet editorials / models ana brandão, joana tam, patrícia malafaya, mafalda barroso, catarina joão vieira