When Amy Ferris asked me to contribute an essay to Dancing at the Shame Prom: Sharing the Stories That Kept Us Small, I wasn’t sure that I had any shame. Then, when I thought about it, I realized that I did. I just hadn’t framed it that way. I agreed to participate. After I handed in my essay, I heard back from co-editor Hollye Dexter. “I think you are holding back,” she said. “Can you go a little deeper?” So I did. Along with twenty-six other women, I wrote openly about issues that had impacted my life.
Tag Archives: body image
#KeepItReal Victory! Seventeen Magazine Pledges Not to Digitally Alter Girls’ Images
In the magazine publishing world, it’s been said “airbrushing images is an industry standard.” But it doesn’t have to be. Seventeen Magazine has agreed not to digitally alter images of young female models and celebs. And its all thanks to the #KeepItReal Challenge and one passionate teen activist. SPARK Summit, LoveSocial, I Am That Girl, [...]
Man, I Feel Like a Woman
HuffPost Women has a new campaign called “The Moment I Knew I Was a Woman, Not a Girl” in which users submit videos chronicling their exile from Girlville. It’s an interesting question, especially considering how dangerous it feels to be Living While Female these days. And it strikes to the core of gender, really. Because it begs the [...]
Leggo My Leggings!
My close childhood friends will tell you I was very attached to wearing leggings when I was growing up. They were so comfortable it took several years before I could even understand why someone would choose to wear jeans. I was definitely not trying to make a statement or attract any sort of attention by [...]
Binary Thinking About Body Image Hurts Us All
“They say that white has might And thin is in, well that’s just bull. Cause ladies, big is back And as for black, it’s beautiful” -Hairspray: “Big, Blonde and Beautiful” A Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll surfaced earlier this year finding that black women have overall higher levels of self-esteem than women in other ethnic [...]
Fat Girl
I’ve always been fat. I’m not one of those fat girls who has stories about when I was thin—because I was never thin. And I grew up with the knowledge that I was fat. When I was three years old I was playing outside with my friends and I got hungry. I came inside and [...]