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.
RBI supports all races, genders, classes, and sizes. We try our best to make this a safe space for everyone. If we are not doing our job or checking our privilege, we invite you to please inform us.
Some of the artwork you see here has been created by our founder or moderators, some sourced when applicable. Please be kind enough to source this blog whenever you share it's content.
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.
Why It’s Okay To Be Fat: Golda Poretsky at TEDxMillRiver
Watch this. Up-vote it on Youtube. Share it. <3
This video has just been bombarded in the comments by a gaggle of anti-fat, healthist fuckers. Golda presents so much important info in this talk that is being overshadowed by hate and ignorance and its such a goddamn shame. If you have a moment, and the energy, to deal with combating these trolls…please consider helping out down-voting derogatory comments, up-voting constructive ones, and adding your own love to the mix.
I love when it gets warm outside because I can wear shorts and dresses and jiggle my thighs around, which is one of my favorite feelings.
I was always told that when you are fat you must wear solid colors and they can not be to loud. Well I decided that it was time to break that code. I love my body and I want to show everyone how wonderful it is.
Yeah, I’ll say it - this universal call to action for women of the world to “love themselves” is overrated.
Strive for self contentment, be kind to yourself, be critical of media, remain vigilant in seeking empowerment and positivity when you can, form a relationship with your body, live well by your own standards, and by all means - love yourself, if that is within your grasp.
But if you can not find self love, for whatever reason and however long, know that you are not part of the problem.
You have been affected.
Unlearning the hate is hard work, but once we learn how to dismantle the inner-workings of a society and culture that permeates and surrounds our very existence, we can stand a chance of knocking it down.
In the meantime, don’t force it - stop blaming yourself for not “loving your body” enough.
You can not possibly be at fault, when the oppressive culture we live in is the main offender.
Dove hired a forensic artist to draw how women see themselves versus how others see them - the results are moving.
Interesting idea. Thoughts?
“In diversity there is perfection.”
I would like it much better if they weren’t all pale as fuck though, hard to have actual diversity without visible PoC. Otherwise very nice.
I thought the same thing and considered it for a bit before I decided to post it. But eventually I enjoyed the idea of spreading the message in a different language and using the idea that diversity is good instead of “we’re all human” bullshit. Should have put commentary though. Thanks Liz! :)
Hi! I’m Zoey, and I’m 16. I’m the girl in this photo :)
It’s taken me ages to come to terms with my body. I’ve hated it so much, and struggled with eating disorders of many types. I’ve also struggled with self-harm and depression. But I’m starting to get better, and starting to realize that I’m beautiful just the way I am.
Part of it is finding trendy clothes that fit, like this dress! I’m kinda in love with “plus size” stores because they have amazing clothes that ACTUALLY are made to fit us bigger girls, and have styles that look good on us.
I had an amazing time at my TOLO dance this year, with my great date. It was so much fun, and I loved it, and the way I looked that night. First time I’ve felt that way in a long time, and I’m so happy to be getting to this point.
Hi my name is James and I am gender queer. Like so many, I was told that being fat was wrong and bad. That I was disgusting. I tried so hard to be what they wanted, which was thinner. Because of places and blogs like this, I learned to love myself. I learned, I was beautiful and that me being fat was not disgusting. What was disgusting was how my family or some of them handled it towards me. I want everyone to know you are not alone and there are people out there like you. You are loved and you are not disgusting. But you are beautiful.<3
I found this blog at the beginning of the semester, through a link at xojane, and it really really hit home. I realized that I need to make a concerted effort to work on loving myself (even though society tells me not to)- not through diet and exercise and self flagellation, but through acceptance. This project was an attempt at that. I researched fertility figures, and the ones that I liked best were the ones with round hips and large heavy breasts. The ones that resembled me. It reminds me that this obsession with size 0 is a recent trend. There have been times throughout history where we have been revered as the standard of beauty. So not only is this figure a reach into the past, but it is also a self portrait.
She has two faces, one forward and one back- and when I have some time, I will be setting a stone on either side- a moonstone for the Maiden aspect and a Labradorite for the Crone.
Thank you for giving me the courage to explore this. I still have some really bad, triggering days, but I hope that my new totem can help me remember that the clamoring of the media is not the truth of the world. I am a fat woman and that is ok.
I started growing my armpit hair a few months ago and I have fallen in love with it. I never realised how happy it was going to make me!
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// SHOW YOUR FUZZY LOVE! //
I went through a dark period in my life where depression knocked me right off my feet. I ended up being hospitalized at a mental health facility for 9 days. I got discharged and was doing better, but I kept falling into the pit of depression and going back to the hospital. Throughout this process I was using not only self injury but food as a coping skill to deal with my unhelpful thoughts and feelings. I gained a lot of weight in the past year. Starting last summer I began to completely hate my body. I would have panic attacks if I looked in the mirror too long because I couldn’t stand the skin I was in. Never in a million years would I have dreamed of submitting a photo like this. But I have found blogs like this and I am working as hard as I can to love myself, and it is paying off. I can now proudly say that I love my belly, my stretch marks, my thighs, my lack of collarbones, my arms, my scars, and everything in between. This is my body, and I am not ashamed. ♥ http://s-ecular.tumblr.com
I am naturally a very hairy woman. I don’t have PCOS or anything like that - it’s because of my Italian heritage. After years of ridicule, feeling embarrassed, enduring painful removal, hiding it, and despising the whole situation, I finally came to fully embrace it and haven’t removed it in about three years. I am a model and performance artist, and I have always had an underlying desire to love my fuzzies, but felt unsure for many years if I could handle the negative attention that would undoubtedly come with it. Since learning to love and accept it fully, I have realized that it is soooo worth it. The positive far outweighs the negative. Many new and exciting opportunities have come my way as a direct result of being myself and embracing my body hair. Love perpetuates love. I encourage everyone everywhere to practice self love and acceptance deeply and fully as often as possible! We are all worthy of love and acceptance. I love blogs like this that are actively spreading this very important message. Thank you so much!
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Thank you for sharing your story with us. I think you are an absolutely gorgeous human being, and I am really envious of your fuzzies.
all these years now of pretending i wasn’t real, not embracing the physical; to now understand what exactly is real. what i feel is real, what i know is real, and even more that love is real.
sometimes i wish i saw this sooner, sometime sooner then now.
I went shopping today with a friend. I wore a skirt that functions as both comfy and a little sexy. I bought a great pair of shoes I will refer to as my Zeldas because they remind me of 1920s fashion. During this shopping trip my friend and I were discussing various body-related troubles, and I found myself saying, instinctively, “There is one thing about my body I like.”
“That’s great!,” she responded. “You should always have at least one thing you like. What is it?”
“My breasts.”
“Yeah, I can see that!”
It’s true! I do like my breasts. They’re large Ds, but despite their size they are soft, supple, and firm, they don’t sag far, are pale and pink, and they look really great lifted in a bra.
I’ve also been told by more than one person that they feel great, and look even better when I’m lying down.
It felt really weird to type that, by the way…
Anyway, I should be able to like things about myself without the opinions of others, but I’m not quite that confident yet. So, I’ll say that my feelings are confirmed often. Men love them and compliment them both appropriately and inappropriately (though men tend to love breasts in general, so the relevance there is limited), and even women tend to love them. I’ve been to strip clubs a few times, and I cannot count how many times the dancers have come to me, sat down, and talked about my breasts. They ask if they’re real, they ask to touch them, express jealousy, and so on.
Now, there are down sides to having them. Clothing sometimes doesn’t fit when it should, shirts that don’t appear too low-cut on other women appear so on me because I have so much cleavage I can’t really stop it from showing, and some men think just because my cleavage exists that gives them the right to comment on it.
I mean, I understand they’re very much “there,” and it’s sometimes difficult not to take a look, particularly when I’ve opted for low-cut, but can you not control yourself enough to avoid looking like a deer in headlights? Or shouting really stupid shit like, “Look at them tig ol’ bitties!”
I’d like to kick the man who made that up in the crotch.
There’s also my mother, who thinks that losing weight, and breast size as a result, is a good thing.
What it comes down to is me, though. I found something to like, and that is a huge thing for me. Hopefully there will be a Part 2 to this soon.
i used to be so afraid nothing could save me from myself.