WHAT WE'RE ABOUT
We are constantly redefining our own perspectives, and therefore tend to write a lot about our personal experiences. Many followers and contributors are living with anorexia, bulimia, body dysmorphic disorder, depression, and a variety of other body image disorders or mental illnesses, so please be respectful and remember that health applies differently to everyone. Any and all potentially triggering content will be prefaced with a trigger warning.
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We are not health professionals. Any and all advice provided on this blog is supported only by our own research, studies, and personal experiences; nothing more.
This blog is part of the Safe Space Network.
Dove hired a forensic artist to draw how women see themselves versus how others see them - the results are moving.
Brb crying
Love thyself
I had a strange, very strong reaction to this, because if it were left up to me, who knows how I would describe myself. Real tears. This was a powerful reminder coming from, for me, an unexpected source.
All of the feels.
I love this spot. I really do. Sometimes, I enjoy the way Dove frames these issues, and I can appreciate it.
But in the back of my mind, I am always thinking about the hypocrisy of embracing the notion of “real women” while leaving out a massive part of the population - as if they are any less real.
Dove says they are committed to building positive self esteem and inspiring ALL WOMEN and girls - but from what I can tell, that only applies so long as you’re not over a size 18. Deathfatties be damned.
Also, the same company owns Axe, which uses some of the grossest, most objectifying images of women around at the moment. Basically, I like the idea of the “Real Beauty” campaign, but am deeply deeply skeptical of Dove’s motives, and critical of their execution, which as Haley said, is still exclusive of a lot of people even though they claim to be body positive and to represent all women.
So, yeah, that first image is from a European Sony ad and I don’t know about you BUT IT CREEPS ME OUT. Ignoring the skeevy implications (woman’s body is a plaything for men, etc) it’s also just CREEPY AS HELL. Like “this is actually the new Silent Hill design” creepy.
So I decided to make it SUPER RIDICULOUS. If more boobs = OMG SEXIER OBVIOUSLY, then mine must be HELEN OF TROY LEVELS OF THE PERFECT WOMAN, RIGHT?! Line up, fellas!
Ever have one of those days when you’re unsure how much phobia, hatred and all the bullshit society throws towards us that you can handle?
If I see one more Special K advert telling me I need to weight x amount to have self worth, I’m going to break my fucking television. Thank you for making my day 5x harder.
If I see one more poster of some airbrushed model who prefers to stand for nothing but an unattainable level of perfection to an audience of young, impressionable Women; I’m going to rip it off the wall and shove it in the garbage where it fucking belongs.
If I have to be fronted with one more comment like “This is ONLY x amount of calories; feel less guilty and have this disgusting alternative”, I’m going to take it off the shelf and stamp on it approximately twenty times. Because that’s what I fucking feel like doing.
If some ridiculous company ran by people who clearly have the intelligence of a fucking fish, tell me that I have to be a certain size to fit their idea of beautiful, hot, sexy, whatever; I’m going to cut the label out of every fucking clothing item in their store because it doesn’t matter what size you are.
The next time someone compliments my body based on their like/dislike/preference, it isn’t a compliment because YOU like it. I like myself for myself, if you want to actually compliment me, then state it based on something that matters; like the fact I’ve got a sparkling muthafucking personality, not whether or not I’m the size you find visually pleasing.
The next time some uneducated, naive person tries to tell me what is right for MY body; whether that be how much exercise I should be doing, how many calories I should be consuming, or whether or not I can allow myself to eat such a thing; I’m going to honestly tell them to shove their idealistic standards up their fucking backsides and grab a reality check. If you really had any concern for my well being, you would focus on my happiness; not some ‘statistics’ (informal consent, look it up.)
If someone decides it’s within their right to tell me I have to cover up my acne excessively in order to look pretty enough, I’m going to smash ten bottles of foundation and tell them to fuck off.
The next time someone tells me my ass is ‘too big’, my lips are ‘nice and voluptuous’, or my ‘hips stick out a tad’; I’m going to tell them that my body is no concern of theirs, because their opinion is no fucking concern of mine.
(This could go on forever..)
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Saw an advertisement recently for Slimfull meal replacement bars. It was pretty typical, a chick talking about what a drag dieting is and how great Slimfull is because it suppresses your appetite blah blah blah…The commercial itself I didn’t mind until the end when this chick read the slogan: “Slimfull, eating less is a beautiful thing.” I was pretty unhappy about it because it sounded like what they were saying was if I (that is, a girl) eat less than I will be beautiful. Not only am I not beautiful if I’m fat, but if I want to be perceived as beautiful or attractive by others than I need to eat less, regardless of weather or not I use Slimfull to do so. If I thought about it for more than a minute I’m sure I could think of plenty of other subtle and not-so-subtle anti-fat statements in advertising but I was wondering how you felt about this one in particular.
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It’s disgusting and triggering and offensive. I’m sorry, this has been in the queue for a while because that slogan is fucking horrible, and I’m almost positive none of us want to put our brain there, I’m not sure if publishing it will do more harm than good. But critical thought about the media and advertisements we consume is an important part of any activist work, just like calling bullshit when you see it.
And this is some pure bullshit
Thin privilege is this series of advertisements encouraging fat people to give up on hobbies and instead use all their spare time striving to be thin.
Fucking hell.
So basically, suppress your interests and loves that make up a fulfilling life so you can look more appropriate to the kind of people that hate you. Because when you’re fat, your passions must be sacrificed the the demands of fat stigmatization.
Fuck this that elephant is dope.
omfgggg fucking fuck whoever art directed this bullshit. -hcue
Some fat people are healthy
Some fat people are unhealthy
Some thin people are healthy
Some thin people are unhealthy
Some fat people are the way they are because of binge eating disorders
Some thin people are the way they are because of restrictive eating disorders
Some fat people are suffering from restrictive eating disorders
Some thin people are suffering from binge eating disorders
Some fat people have been that way for a long time
Some thin people have been that way for a long time
Some fat people have disordered eating
Some thin people have disordered eating
Some fat people have good body image
Some fat people have bad body image
Some thin people have good body image
Some thin people have bad body image
Some fat people are unhappy because of how they look
Some fat people are unhappy, full stop
Some fat people are happy, regardless
Some thin people are happy because of how they look
Some thin people are just happy
Some thin people are unhappy, regardless -
I hate generalisations.
I know I’ve made lots in this post, but I couldn’t hold it in much longer.
I hate judgements and policing and insults and “society” and trying to fit everybody under the same “umbrella” and ugh
I dream of a world where people’s natural body sizes - whatever they may be - are accepted, and not feared / envied / shamed.
I dream of a world where there is no jealousy and insecurity in a woman’s eyes when she looks at another woman’s body.
I dream of a world where nobody feels the pressure to beat their body into submission by calorie counting / diets by proxy of “lifestyle change” / forced, unenjoyable exercise / etc.
I dream of a world where there’s no need for a “Real Beauty” campaign by Dove (which, after all, is no better than any other advert - one body type only. That’s it.)
(I dream of a world where all adverts look like this, to be honest.)
I dream of a world where a fat girls are on Vogue covers without it being a “big deal”, where thin girls are not assumed to be magically happy just due to their thinness, where fat girls are not assumed to be binge-eaters/lazy - where all girls feel no pressure, basically -
oh, I could go on for hours.
I hope this post is okay.
I went on Megabus to look up a bus ticket, and I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw there. I thought you might be too.
Rebel Wilson for Details Magazine
She’s so fab
It’s really fucked up just how much they photoshopped her to look smaller.
You think I don’t see how the hips don’t match up with the guy on the right by a fucking mile because they shrunk down her hips?
Or how the pelvis on the guy on the left looks awkwardly shaved off so they could put in the white backdrop so it’s looks like she takes up less space? I fucking notice.
And they have the audacity to think they’re doing fat girls a favor by tossing in a few paid male models to grope at her breasts so that for once a fat girl gets to feel wanted. That for once a fat girl gets to feel fuckable by the kind of men that we are told will never want us.
Fuck this photoshoot because my body doesn’t need your faux pity acceptance.
Rebel Wilson deserves so much more than this. She deserves raw, unforgiving attention because she is a raw, unforgiving person just like the rest of us.
Omg this commentary is so perfect.
Here’s a shoutout to anyone who hates their body and wishes they looked different: LEARN about the power of media. The above ad is from the 1950s. Advertising thrives on making you feel insecure. Over the decades, thanks to feminism, ad designers were forced to become (less patronising, misogynistic and outright sexist in their content and) more subtle, but otherwise nothing has changed - the media still throws images at us which make us feel insecure or deepen our insecurities. Why? Because ultimately, they’re trying to sell us things. Back then it was exercises and diets that will increase your bust or help you put a few pounds on, now it’s plastic surgery and diets which will help you shed those pounds.
The good news is, you can fight it - knowledge is power - so educate yourself. Think about the ‘perfect’ model back when you were young, and how has she changed. Learn of the power of Photoshop. Look at quality retouching: before and after. These women that media wants us to emulate are hardly real anymore. Things are turning around, but slowly, so in the meantime, learn.
I hope this gives some a little bit of perspective. Don’t fall prey to the media, you’re too smart for that, and way too beautiful all on your own.
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[mod note or whatever: fucking THIS. cosigned. always. - haley <3]
Hey.: baby—guts: people that post those vintage ads for women saying gaining…
people that post those vintage ads for women saying gaining around 15 pounds will give them curves and men will like them are so fucking stupid. you’re just as bad as people saying you should lose weight. unless you’re using it to prove how society has a tendency to change it’s…
Er, you just explained why some people do it, to demonstrate the same underlying pattern of body dissatisfaction is used to undermine people.
If it makes you angry that’s the point. Now imagine being ridiculed for that response, or told that is a sign there is something wrong with you? Being told you can’t take reasonable correction, or you’re oversensitive, being laughed at because it stings?
Can I just say that “skinny shaming” is not wholly convincing? Fat shaming is more complex than what other people say about your size. It operates within a system set up to pathologize people’s existence. No one is saying thin people need to dedicate their lives to gaining weight, unless they actually have an ED. Even then, they have a voice which counts.
Try to stop trivializing experiences you don’t understand.
And frankly, when are we going to hear from people who whine about skinny shaming about their collusion in the process of being held up as what everyone should aim for?
You’d think they’d want to question the costs of that and how little they seem to have gained from it. That they’d tell the authorities using them to get their hands off their bodies. But no.
Many are still clinging like fury. I don’t think its shaming you to realise that you’ve been placed on a pedestal, that is at the whim of whoever seeks to gain from manipulating people’s insecurities.
I’d have thought you’d be more angry about that.