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body image, body politics
hi ladies,
i just got back from my trip to the philippines and noticed a few things there. my perspectives were changed completely! of course, being in a country where pace of life, diet, and evolutionary things (smaller bone frames, etc.) are different is going to make some changes. i was put in an environment where most everyone was skinnier than me, with tiny waists, and not one person was ever as obese as you see people in the states.
with everyone my size and smaller (mostly smaller) and people commenting on how "fat" i was (even if they only meant it jokingly or in a non-threatening friendly way.. whatever that is), i started to feel a little bad about my self esteem. i'd look in the mirror and think i was chubby. it's also interesting to note that a lot of guys still noticed me there, but that wasn't important to me. it wasn't about male attention, it was about how my self-esteem changed based on how my environment, in turn changed.
and as for body politics, i was used to being a "S" or "M" in the US but found that 'L' or 'XL' pairs of shorts fit me perfectly.
now i'm back in the states, and looking in the mirror thinking i'm a sexy bitch :-D how does the mirror lie or stretch the truth? and what is "truth"? is it only relative to the images we see and compare ourselves too? i'm still the same person in the reflection, no bigger or smaller but somehow, my perspectives allow me to see something positive or negative.
i don't know where i'm really going with this.
just something to think about
and discuss?
__________________
And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.
~Anais Nin
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