The FACs: Body Image

Around the Table

The mantra in our house is; “There is no such thing as fat, there is only unhealthy”. Bam! My job is done. Who are you kidding Cherie? Three women in a household with no male figure around to validate how pretty we are or how great we look in our latest fashion (Even though I raised my girls to despise the idea that their self-worth is based on such statements; the art of the testosterone driven compliment still holds unbelievable power.) is bound to need more than some wise old mantra you got from the fortune cookie of your last meal. Course, like any good mother, I’d prefer to believe, the girls are fine. Until the box is put up on the table and the topic chosen is “Body Image”. How to address this issue? Goodness, it was difficult enough in my day when Good Housekeeping magazines drove the standard of what a beautiful woman was to be.

But nowadays, there are tons of magazines available that borderline porno, purporting bone thin women with artificially photo shopped bodies and facial features for girls to spend countless of hours feeling insecure. And what about the impact that Social Media now has on girls and its ability to literally stalk and target our girls with every click they make. According to Park Nicollet Health Services, if you Google ‘thinspiration’ it results in almost 2 million hits; and ‘Pro-ana’ (meaning Pro Anorexia – what an oxymoron) results in 19 million hits! A 2006 Stanford University study found that 95% of girls who already had eating disorders visited the Pro-Ana websites in search of new weight loss techniques. The more I researched this topic the more I became grateful that one of us had the lady balls to put it up for discussion. The question is, who?

Fierce Authentic Conversations

Jaz’s Vanity Fair

…. “Who are you trying to look good for?” ME, the answer is me. I’m looking good for myself. I enjoy the feeling of pampering myself, looking nice and gazing in the mirror. I contribute to the “society” that I was so quick to point the finger. I have become conscious that I often have been in the sea of ridiculing faces and words for shaming women and men based on their body type or physical attraction, as vain as that may be. Read More

Cherie’s baby got back!

…. I can recall, back when I was a boney, no angled looking child, I dreamed of a butt, boobs and thighs. I watched the girls in the projects around me with their big ‘onion’ booties (as it is called today) and their thunder thighs inherited honestly by their equally sexified-looking mothers. . I imagine my body as strong, healthy, warm and gorgeous. This is the image I see looking back at me. Read More

Misty’s Mirror Image

…. I am being told by society that I’m an extremely sexual person. What does that even mean? To me, it makes me uncomfortable with the body I have. That my butt appears to have more of a brain than my head does. Because my butt is so large, is it what will attract people toward me like a magnet? Are you saying I don’t need to continue enhancing my knowledge? Growing my character? I can simply carry my butt around and display it like a business card in order to excel? Read More