As one of the sponsors of the Blossoming Beauties, I respectfully agree to disagree with the opinion that was posted to the Editor in the March 23 edition [“Importance of Names,” The Gazette, March 23]. Although I value anyone’s opinion that may help our group, I am very sorry that anyone should feel that the group’s name is concerning. The writer’s opinion did help us to revisit the reason we chose the name, Blossoming Beauties. We were able to surmise that the name that was voted on by our girls, fits our mission:
Mission: To help our girls grow into well-rounded, confident, inspired young women who understand that being a woman is not a limitation, and that past experiences do not have to dictate our futures. They are simply stepping stones and serve as learning opportunities.
We will learn to love ourselves from the inside out.
We will discuss the importance of appearance, hygiene and appropriate attire.
We will have open discussions about issues in the world that involve women.
We will write a memoir of something that we have a strong opinion about or something that we personally experienced.
We will build relationships with the other young ladies in the group. “Power is in Numbers.”
We will be open-minded, we will share our ideas, and we will have an amazing time doing it!
Motto: “What we look like to the world is not nearly as important as how we feel about ourselves!”
The girls in the group, understand that the beauty we seek, comes from within and since so many of our girls prefer not to be in the limelight, they do love helping others who are less fortunate. This not only brings out that inner beauty, but the joy that they feel after accomplishing the many outreach projects is indescribable. And while we are very much aware of what society deems “beautiful,” we teach our girls that beauty is an action and not an adjective in our group.Beauty is not limited to physical attractiveness and aesthetics. Beauty is putting others first before ourselves. Beauty is helping those that are less fortunate, beauty is loving oneself from the inside out. This is what we instill in the girls of our group.
E. Rose
Alexandria