All tagged autonomy
I don't believe anyone else owes me their fitness or their health.
Perhaps an unpopular opinion, considering my profession, but I believe you have every right to do whatever the fuck you want with your body, and no matter your choices, you're still worthy of love and respect.
Your worth is not tied to how hard you hustle and how much you shrink, whether that's in the gym or otherwise.
Statuesque.
Not typically a word used to describe someone like me: not very tall, pit-bull-like in nature (muscle-y, stocky, kinda tough, big ole softie on the inside), skin not of alabaster but of an unevenly-painted beige wall.
The sheer volume of conflicting advice for women is maddening.
First, a low-fat diet holds the keys to the kingdom of thinness and, therefore happiness. Then, low-carb. Oh, but don't forget to sprint! Actually, you should aim for as much low-intensity walking as possible. But mix it in with a healthy dose of strength training, and don't stretch too much! But also, do yoga. And there's no way you can do it right for any less than $599.99.
AND DON'T FORGET TO RIP YOUR HAIR OUT WHILE YOU'RE AT IT. That burns calories.
The moment we let advertising & its victims tell us what’s best for us is the watershed moment for many; what follows is a trickling stream – and eventual downpour – of shame. We're told that certain foods are bad, or that lifting heavy makes us bulky & that we shouldn’t want to “look like a man."
Hear me clearly: NO ONE knows what’s right for you better than you do.
Ah, your bikini body.
Didn’t show up again this year?
…
YES IT DID.
PUT A BIKINI ON YOUR BODY (nod to my friend and mentor, Neghar Fonooni). AND BYEEEE.
You don’t have to shape it, shrink it, tan it, or pose it. And you MOST CERTAINLY don’t have to hide it.
Your body is worthy of whatever display you desire, no apologies necessary.
These stories spin any number of ways, but – most often – we’re the damsel in distress, at the mercy of others, awaiting our rescue.
We're sold ideals - often ones we didn't choose for ourselves. We're enmeshed in an overculture holding that the primary purpose of a woman is to be decoration: we are to be looked at first, and we experience no shortage of tips and tricks to help improve our appearances. Comments on our bodies are often the loudest of all, proclaiming that if we aren't up to the standard, nothing else matters.
We look for respite in creams, in exercise programs, in diets...only to discover that these often provide little relief. Perhaps because these are attempts to solve an issue we never agreed was a problem in the first place.
While I find nothing inherently wrong with the pursuit of physique goals (and I'm not interested in telling you what to choose for yourself), I would like to look back on my life someday and say I was striving for more than just an ideal body.
