I have decided that I love my thighs. It’s taken me a while to make myself make
this decision, but it’s about time that I took action.
Strangely enough, it’s a decision that I am conscious of
primarily because I am female. If I was
a man, it’s far less likely that I would be expected to question my thighs, my
ass, or my belly. Because men are not generally told to give these body parts any real attention or critique, since they are
what they are: normal human anatomy.
But for women, we are told from a very young age to question
our bodies. I am slim, so I am to
question where my curves are. I am pale,
so I am to question where my tan is. I
am tall, so I am to question whether I am too tall. And the reverse is true for my curvier
friends…we are to continually question every inch, every dimple and every measurement
of our perfectly normal human anatomy.
I am calling bull.
Bull.
This particular cry of bull has been triggered by the
following picture, which cropped up in my newsfeed this morning:
Click here, for the source.
This picture was shared on Facebook by Jason Y. Evans, with
the following commentary:
"I had a very difficult time not raging out about this in the college store. These are onesies...for infants...guess which one is for girls and which one is for boys. THIS is the problem."
Exactly right – THIS is the problem.
While little boys are being told that they are super, little
girls are being told to hate – not
just question – their bodies.
And the real kick in the balls? It starts from birth.
It is time that we stop this damaging discourse. It is time that we collectively make the
decision to change this limiting landscape, for ourselves and for our children.
Because there is every chance that my daughter’s thighs will
grow to look very similar to mine in 30 years time.
There is every chance that my daughter’s ass will take a
similar shape to my own.
There is every chance that my daughter’s belly will stretch in exactly the way that mine has.
I will not question her body, so why should I question my
own?
The simple fact is, my girl learns about the world from
me. And more than this, she learns about
her place in the world from me.
So I’ve decided to make the decision to stop questioning my
body. I’ve decided to model a radical
idea for 2015 – to accept and champion my female body for exactly what it is:
normal human anatomy.
Here’s hoping that my daughter – and yours - will learn to
do the same.
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