Then the other morning, I came upon a picture of my beautiful friend Madison. Now, recently Madison has been looking into weight-loss surgery. So, I was a bit surprised to see a picture of her in form fitting clothing posted publicly on Facebook. That is, until I read the caption.
A lot of craziness has been going on lately. And it's made me re-realize the importance of body positivity, and self-acceptance. I've not changed my mind about cosmetic "weight loss" surgery yet... I don't know if I will. However, I need to remember that I'm fine with the way I am. Some bodies are just different, and react to things differently. I work out, eat right, take my meds, and deal with other chronic illnesses as best as I can. PCOS just... causes disproportionate amounts of belly fat, and difficulty losing weight. That's just how things are, that's how my body is, and I need to accept that. And dammit, I'm going to wear gods-dammed SHORTS this summer, for the first time in years! I hope you all feel as lovely as you are!
And I responded:
Madison, I struggle with my weight and my body image every single day. And at almost forty-years-old, I am finally starting to accept myself as beautiful the way I am. The fact that you're figuring it out in your 20s is awesome.
You don't need weight-loss surgery in my opinion. You are gorgeous and incredible exactly as you are. But my opinion matters little in the grand scheme of things. So here is my wish for you: May you feel as beautiful as you really are every single day. May you know how truly strong and amazing and brave and gorgeous you are as well.
I love you, lady.
And as I wrote this, I realized that I was asking my friend to be able to do more than I myself have been able to do. And I realized that, if I was going to preach self-love, I had to practice self-love. Publicly. So, I stood in my bathroom and took a few pictures of myself, chose one and posted it before I could change my mind. I posted my picture with two hashtags #PositiveBodyImage and #IAmBeautiful (more on that in a minute). And while posting the picture was scary, I did feel beautiful when I took the picture and I still think it's a good picture of me. I look strong, capable, and beautiful. I like that. That said, there was a moment of panic when I hit the post button on that picture... A voice in my head that said, "What in the blue-peeping-fuck do you think you're doing?!? Nobody wants to see that." But it was too late.
And how awesome that it was. I have gotten so much positive feedback from my picture! That night before I fell asleep, my picture had received over 120 likes on Facebook. Friends, acquaintances, and strangers all liked my picture. I am beautiful. Exactly as I am. This is the best feeling ever. And all I had to do was be brave enough to admit it publicly. Here is my picture on Instagram... And yes, even several days later, I am still proud of it and I still think I am beautiful.
There has been a quote by Dr. Gail Dines floating around on social media lately that says, "If tomorrow, women woke up and decided they really liked their bodies, just think how many industries would go out of business". That's a really incredible thought. Which businesses would see the most dramatic drop? Definitely the weight loss industry. Probably the cosmetic surgery and procedure industry (I mean, why bother with bigger breasts or botox if you feel beautiful already?). I'm sure that these industries would not disappear altogether, and I don't think that they need to be removed from our society. But, could you imagine a world where you were not bombarded with advertisements featuring people who have been airbrushed to a perfection that does not exist anywhere outside of that ad telling us that we are fat and ugly and if we just use Product X all of that will change?
And while I agree with Dr. Dines sentiment, I know many men who have body issues and feel pressured to fit an impossible ideal. It's not a gender issue. It's a self-esteem issue.
So, dear readers, I am presenting you with a challenge. Post a body shot of yourself publicly (that is, make it visable to strangers) on your favorite social media site. You can be in any state of dress, but your body needs to be visible (showing your shape does not need to involve skin unless you want it to). When you post your picture, post it with one or both of these hashtags #PositiveBodyImage and #IAmBeautiful I want to see your beautiful selves! Men! Women! Fatties! Skinnies! And everybody in between! Feel free to tag me @oregonred on Instagram. I wanna see how beautiful y'all are.
Let's change the standard of beauty to represent all of us. Let's stop letting media ideals decide what is beautiful and start deciding for ourselves. But more than all of that, let's give ourselves permission to love ourselves exactly as we are.
And as I wrote this, I realized that I was asking my friend to be able to do more than I myself have been able to do. And I realized that, if I was going to preach self-love, I had to practice self-love. Publicly. So, I stood in my bathroom and took a few pictures of myself, chose one and posted it before I could change my mind. I posted my picture with two hashtags #PositiveBodyImage and #IAmBeautiful (more on that in a minute). And while posting the picture was scary, I did feel beautiful when I took the picture and I still think it's a good picture of me. I look strong, capable, and beautiful. I like that. That said, there was a moment of panic when I hit the post button on that picture... A voice in my head that said, "What in the blue-peeping-fuck do you think you're doing?!? Nobody wants to see that." But it was too late.
And how awesome that it was. I have gotten so much positive feedback from my picture! That night before I fell asleep, my picture had received over 120 likes on Facebook. Friends, acquaintances, and strangers all liked my picture. I am beautiful. Exactly as I am. This is the best feeling ever. And all I had to do was be brave enough to admit it publicly. Here is my picture on Instagram... And yes, even several days later, I am still proud of it and I still think I am beautiful.
There has been a quote by Dr. Gail Dines floating around on social media lately that says, "If tomorrow, women woke up and decided they really liked their bodies, just think how many industries would go out of business". That's a really incredible thought. Which businesses would see the most dramatic drop? Definitely the weight loss industry. Probably the cosmetic surgery and procedure industry (I mean, why bother with bigger breasts or botox if you feel beautiful already?). I'm sure that these industries would not disappear altogether, and I don't think that they need to be removed from our society. But, could you imagine a world where you were not bombarded with advertisements featuring people who have been airbrushed to a perfection that does not exist anywhere outside of that ad telling us that we are fat and ugly and if we just use Product X all of that will change?
And while I agree with Dr. Dines sentiment, I know many men who have body issues and feel pressured to fit an impossible ideal. It's not a gender issue. It's a self-esteem issue.
So, dear readers, I am presenting you with a challenge. Post a body shot of yourself publicly (that is, make it visable to strangers) on your favorite social media site. You can be in any state of dress, but your body needs to be visible (showing your shape does not need to involve skin unless you want it to). When you post your picture, post it with one or both of these hashtags #PositiveBodyImage and #IAmBeautiful I want to see your beautiful selves! Men! Women! Fatties! Skinnies! And everybody in between! Feel free to tag me @oregonred on Instagram. I wanna see how beautiful y'all are.
Let's change the standard of beauty to represent all of us. Let's stop letting media ideals decide what is beautiful and start deciding for ourselves. But more than all of that, let's give ourselves permission to love ourselves exactly as we are.
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