Showing posts tagged bodies
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Nobody told me I had a clitoris. Nobody told me I was capable of having orgasms. For five years I was given “sex education”. It mostly consisted of periods and condoms. It didn’t talk about consent. It didn’t talk about the actual mechanics of sex, about arousal and lubrication and oscillation. It didn’t tell me a single thing about relationships and it didn’t tell me I had a clitoris. I only know now because of the internet. Nobody entrusted with my care and education has ever told me that the female orgasm exists, or about the parts of my anatomy necessary for it. I didn’t find my clitoris until I was eighteen, after six years of active sexuality. That makes me angry.
Sex Education, or, What Boys Will Want From You (via azelie, sexisnottheenemy) (via resmc) (via anarchofeminist)
(Reblogged from anarchofeminist)

Black Women’s Bodies

I don’t qualify for this, but I’m passing this along because I think it is so important to break down the stereotype that only white, upper-middle class women develop eating disorders and to ensure that women of color gain visibility and access to treatment. One of my instructors at Rutgers is putting together this study, and I’m hoping this might reach some people who can help here out. This is from her:

Are You a Black/African-American/Afro-Latina woman? If so, then I would love to talk with you!

I’m currently putting together a research project aimed at shedding light on the way that Black women feel about, treat and live in their bodies. Specifically, my project will focus on Black women’s eating, dieting and weight-loss attitudes and behaviors. I’m especially interested in speaking with Black women who’ve ever struggled with negative body image or who have struggled with disordered eating symptoms of any sort. You must be female, consider yourself Black (regardless of ethnicity or nationality), age 18 or over, and able to complete the interview in English.

If you qualify to participate in my project, I’ll ask you some questions for about an hour. We can schedule a time that’s convenient for you. If you’re interested in participating or would like more information, please send an email to blackwomensbodies@gmail.com. Be sure to include the best way to contact you along with your message.

Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you!

Alena J. Singleton,
Rutgers University
Department of Sociology

blackwomensbodies@gmail.com

Even if you don’t want to participate (or don’t qualify), I’d love it if people could repost this or send it along to someone who might be interested. Thanks!

Like an Explicit Content Disney Film.: Personally, I hate skinny girls... (read below and view images :) xo)

Like ones that have no shape to them because they’re so stick thin. It’s ugly. Come on, where’s the beauty in it? You’re a woman, you’re ment to have stunning curves, to excentuate the beauty of the female. What’s so attractive of having the body of a 10 year old boy? I’m not talking about having…

Like I’ve said before, I don’t know when “body acceptance” became all about being “anti-thin.” Can I just point out that some women are naturally thin? And have small body frames? And are completely healthy at weights that might seem, to some, “sickly”?

Furthermore, all this movement seems to do is refer to Marilyn Monroe and other women who were/are conventionally beautiful. Maybe that provides some contrast to the current size 0 ideal, but aside from that, vintage pictures of women who were just as made up and objectified as today’s models don’t really challenge beauty standards (and for the record, just because they weren’t underweight doesn’t mean they weren’t scrutinized over their bodies, forced to lose weight, or on ridiculous eating/exercise regimens). I mean, why are they always white? And in lingerie that accentuates their perfect hourglass figures? Where are the plus-size women? And the women of color? And the women with muscular bodies? And the short women? And the women with small breasts?

If you want to see a woman who really challenges our beauty standards, take a look at Heather Cassils.

Heather Cassils

Most should be familiar with Heather Cassils — she was featured in Lady Gaga’s Telephone video, and recognized for her particularly ‘masculine’ body… which means she doesn’t have the curves you’re looking for, so I guess she’s not expressing her gender in an acceptable manner. I think she looks amazing.

Sabra Johnson is another woman I find beautiful…

Sabra Johnson

Sabra’s tiny (which is apparently horrible and disgusting because size 0 is so bad!!!), but she’s also solid muscle. This also isn’t a completely exoticized image that exaggerates her breasts and butt, which is the only kind of image the media is interested in when it comes to black women. So I’d say that Sabra both defies beauty standards and proves that women who don’t have the curves of a pin-up model aren’t gross.

Megan Carter falls into the same category of ‘incredibly talented dancer.’

Megan Carter

…but she’s bigger than the average dancer, and has been told she’ll have difficulty finding a job because of her body. And yet she’s beautiful, extremely flexible, and a graceful performer.

That’s certainly not an exhaustive list — there’s a lot more ground to cover in terms of the diversity of races, ages, gender identities, body sizes, etc. — but these are three examples of women who aren’t Twiggy or Marilyn, which I think that makes my point clearly enough. There are a lot of problems with our beauty standards beyond the coveted size 0, and I’m not sure why people act like there’s something revolutionary about idolizing models who weigh a bit more instead. Do I think not having stick-thin models shoved in my face every day would help my self-esteem and stop encouraging eating disorders in women? Yes, absolutely. But telling women they’re ugly because they’re “meant to have curves” isn’t exactly what I call appreciating women or their bodies.

(Reblogged from frankenstern)

Make Cellulite Sexy

Me: “Dove’s campaign for ‘real beauty’ is so hypocritical that I can’t even stand it. Not only do they sell beauty products, but the women in their ads aren’t even big. And they’re all white, and have perfect teeth…”

Kayla: “I know! And you know what else I noticed? None of them have cellulite! Cellulite is natural. Most women have it. Even if you are a stick-thin model, you probably have cellulite somewhere on your body. Where’s the campaign to make that sexy?”

Me: “We should start one!”

Kayla: “Yeah! The MAKE CELLULITE SEXY campaign!”

I have some issues with this, but it’s still interesting… dionnadecay: fyeahsex: “Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder”

I have some issues with this, but it’s still interesting…

dionnadecay:

fyeahsex:

“Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder”

allthatis: fuckyeahtrannies: The Dragon Queen, a webcomic about a drag queen superhero begun earlier this year, began its second storyline last week, and this one seems to be about The Dragon Queen’s past. It is a must-read for anyone interested in superhero origin stories or tales of transgender comings-out. You can read from the beginning of this storyline by clicking here or read from the very start of the comic here. View high resolution

allthatis:

fuckyeahtrannies:

The Dragon Queen, a webcomic about a drag queen superhero begun earlier this year, began its second storyline last week, and this one seems to be about The Dragon Queen’s past. It is a must-read for anyone interested in superhero origin stories or tales of transgender comings-out.

You can read from the beginning of this storyline by clicking here or read from the very start of the comic here.

(Reblogged from alesscurates)

Biggest Loser promoting disordered eating

I just read a post over at Jezebel about one of the Biggest Loser finalists, Kai Hibbard, developing an eating disorder. Up until now I hadn’t heard of any contestants actually coming out about what the contest puts them through (in terms of the promotion of eating disordered behaviors), but this is exactly why I have always been against this show. It’s always disturbed me that we’re expected to cheer on and praise these contestants for engaging in the same behaviors people are hospitalized for every day. Besides the psychological torture they use to “motivate” their contestants, and the fact that they force them to go against medical advice, there are so many people who fucking idolize this show that now have the idea that it’s okay and even healthy to push your body to such limits. We already live in a culture that glorifies pain and wants us to hate our bodies, but the way this show exploits that certainly isn’t helping matters.

Check out the Jezebel post here.

I don’t know whether to respond in anger or simply laugh. I’m not one of those straight-laced ~Internet critics~ who doesn’t believe in performance art, because we all know I love things that fall outside of the box, but when someone tries to make a statement about a condition he clearly doesn’t understand by “binging” and “purging” on stage (and I put those words in quotes because really, that’s a joke of a binge, and he obviously doesn’t know how to vomit properly…) I don’t really know what to think. I have half the mind to leave a comment letting him know that he’s fucking doing it wrong. But then I might be mistaken for a part of the ~*~pro-mia~*~ subculture…

genderqueer: transpride: Javier from The Crashpad Series For the life of me, I don’t know how we’re led to believe that breasts don’t look good on men. View high resolution

genderqueer:

transpride:

Javier from The Crashpad Series

For the life of me, I don’t know how we’re led to believe that breasts don’t look good on men.