Meet B-Girl, Terra

                

This little lady is pretty rad. 

The Criticism of a Women's Body

A very inspirational woman took her camera and did what many (including myself) would fear. 

She decided to capture people's reactions to her body.  

You can view her powerful photo series HERE. 

Top 6: Things to Know When Starting CrossFit

I have been doing CrossFit for about 9 months now. I have turned this form of fitness into a habit, a passion or dare I say… addiction? Challenging my mind and body in this way has changed me as a person, and I never thought I could say that about working out. Here are my tips to those (especially women) who are interested in stepping into a box.

Body Image & Why I Write About It

I am a woman who makes a constant effort to eat healthy and feel good about herself. I am also a woman who loves red velvet cupcakes, ice cream and can eat an entire box of cereal in one sitting. I stand with all women who are told what size they should be. How their legs shouldn't be touching. And to ignore hunger or indulgences. At the grocery store, with our carts full of low fat, low calorie slim-and-trim snacks, we pass by dozens of magazines that offer an iconic image of beauty and offerings of advice: Super Simple Slim-Down..... How to Turn Off Hunger.....Tips to fit those jeans.We are never good enough. We could always be thinner, prettier, better in bed.

After reading this article, I was inspired. This is why I write about body image: 

Notice the contradicting headlines. And the awkward why her hand was airbrushed.

 

I write about body image because "How can I know what I think until I see what I say." - E.M. Forster

I write about body image because I hardly ever feel beautiful, but know that I am. 

I write about body image because beauty is an alienating thing--a terribly lonely thing--belonging not to the the person in possession of it, but to all those with the eyes to behold it.  

I write about body image because at the age of eighteen, heartbroken and homesick and absolutely out-of-my-depth, I learned what a calorie was. 

I write about body image because it takes five minutes in front of a mirror to reshape how I perceive my own body.

I write about body image because the body is flesh and bones and tangible in a way that everything else is not. 

I write about body image because it's easier to think a man doesn't love me because-of-what-I-look-like than to hang in the gray space of the-infinite-unknown. But why, why doesn't he love me?

And I'm not good at the gray space.

I write about body image because body-image sometimes seems like a life-raft worth clinging to in the choppy waters of this impossible sea we call life.

It isn't.

I write about body image because for years when I would feel too much, and couldn't control a thing, I would control the one thing I could. Only to feel nothing, if only for a moment.

I write about body image because some days it is absolutely unbearable to live in my skin. And I think I cannot endure this sensation a moment longer. And I know it has nothing do with my physical body...yet it feels like it does. 

I write about body image because for a long time it was easier to hate my thighs and my hips than admit I really did not like myself.

I write about body image because it is the prism through which we, as women, see and talk about the world.

We talk about wanting to look this way or that way, when (I'm convinced), what we really want is love and acceptance and life-alteringly-good-things. (And appearance, for the most part, does not alter one's life--not in the big ways we always imagine it might).

I write about body image because it is the code by which we discuss things so large they scare us to say aloud.

I say “I'm fat” when what I really mean is “I'm sad.” And I berate the size of my thighs because that is easier than admitting I am untethered and adrift and totally lost at this point in my life--that notion is too big and too true and will surely make others uncomfortable, so I make it small...so small that it is about the size of my waist or the awkward way I smile.

I write about body image because before I can tell you just-why-it-is-I-really-don't-care-for-a-particular-woman (and sometimes, I really don't) I can say no less than five judgmental and evaluative things about what-she-looks-like. (Think about it, I bet you can do this too).

I find this both appalling and fascinating.

I write about body image because it shouldn't be a thing, but it is a thing, and more than that.. it points to THE THINGS!(all the big and significant things that life is really and actually about and therefore difficult to break down into small, manageable pieces).

I write about body image because eating disorders have effected women that I love madly and cherish deeply. Including myself.

An Independent Woman

Last night I had a fabulous dinner with a friend. Over decadent goat cheese stuffed figs and glasses of wine, we discussed a topic I have been thinking about a lot lately: identifying as an independent woman.

You see, I have been raised this way. I have been encouraged to challenge societal norms, and raised with the mindset that I can do whatever I want with my life. This can be clearly defined as the Generation Y mentality. If you want to go to college, go to college. If you want more education, go get it. Despite my generational stereotype, many women my age face the pressures of finding Mr. Perfect, getting married, and having babies. While I want all those things (I have 1 out of three), I am on my own timeline and have other dreams to fulfill. What’s the rush? I want to travel. I want to become established in my career.  I want to be financially secure. I feel all these things will make me a better person, partner, and mother.

Here’s the issue at hand:

Why are independent women viewed as scary and/or intimidating?

An Event: Sandra Fluke

The next few campaign months will be both inspirational, and outright maddening. Depending upon which party you are standing with, of course. 

In this moment… I have chills and I stand with Sandra Fluke.  

->Watch This Video<-

feel more better

                 Here's another organization with a mission to change the world.


Feel More Better is on a mission to make the world a happier place for women and girls, and as part of that, they have launched a women's contemporary t-shirt collection, StoryTee's.

With every StoryTee purchased, Feel More Better gives a new book to an underprivileged little girl through their partners at FirstBook.org in Washington, DC, one of the country's leading literacy organizations.

 

I want this one:

 

 

You Are Not A Number

Change your thoughts. 

The number on the scale does not define who you are. 

Pay attention to what your body is telling you. 

How do you feel? 

Do your clothes fit? 

Do you have energy?

Stop comparing. 

Your worth is not determined by the size of your jeans. 

Commit to loving yourself. 

Believe in health. 

Strive for strength, not skinny. 

{Recommended Read: Whipping Girl by Julia Serano}

As an assigned text for my Gender Theory class, I am reading Julia Serano's, "Whipping Girl". As a transexual women, Julia shares her experiences pre- and post-transition. This is not a confessional tell-all that non-trans people seem to constantly want to hear. She does not tell about the details of sex reassignment surgery and hormones in gory detail. The intent of her book was to debunk many of the myths and misconceptions that people have about transexual women, as well as gender in general. She breaks down sex, gender, privilege, feminism and love. 


This book might make some uncomfortable, as the subject is still ridiculed and severely misunderstood. This book is personal, analytical and will challenge you. 


A recommended read. 


My professor has arranged for Julia to Skype into our last class. We have the opportunity to ask her questions, and hear directly from her. I feel honored and am looking forward to it. 


Check her out: 

Hell Yes.