1) I do not hate men.
2) My shaving habits have nothing to do with my views on feminism, they have to do with the fact that I forget and I'm lazy. To lazy/can't remember to run a razor over my armpits more then twice a month? Yes.
3) I wish you would forget whatever stigmas you have about the word "feminism" for just a sec, and read this post without all that junk in your brain.
4) I do not represent all feminists, and no one person who claims the feminist label represents me.
5) I live by this basic definition of feminism: Feminism is a movement to end sexism and oppression.
So that's quick and dirty of that, now lets move on to what this post is really about.
It's about this picture that I have seen around the vast interwebs on blogs, FB pages and Zines.
This picture:
Basically, I have a beef with this message.
I think that the intention is pure, but misguided. I believe people are posting this in an effort to bring to light the outbreak of body-image and self-esteem issues that are consuming women and girls today. This is a noble intention, one that I wish more people were involved in. Anorexia, eating disorders, and self-mutilation are problems that almost every girl in America grapples with daily. But the above image doesn't really coincide with the 'love your body as it is' notion.
Bettie, Shirley, Elizabeth, and Marilyn are from a different time, but they are practicing the same method of torture that Heidi, Nicole, Keira, and Kristen are. They still sit, stand or lounge around looking sensual and demand that there is an 'ideal' woman, and that they are them. Everything about them says that if we do not look like them, or aspire to be like them, we are not the best women. The most desirable, delicate, mysterious, virtuous, whatever! It doesn't matter if it's 1960 or 2010, if we allow the media to take one body type and present it as the Ideal Female, we all suffer. We all suffer, because we spend our time trying to squeeze something into a shape it was never meant to be instead of trying to solve global warming, or provide education to girls who have escaped trafficking, or tackle any giant world issue.
And another thing! I find it kind of upsetting that both my roommate and my little sister are basically being attacked by this image. By kind of upsetting, I mean rock-me-to-my-core upsetting. I’ll start with my sister, who is very skinny. She's just built that way; tall, ivory skin, and not an ounce of meat on her. She is that ‘ideal’ presented in a lot of mainstream media. Do I think people should aspire to look like her? Hell no. But whoever captioned the above picture would seem to believe that my sister is not 'hot'. It would seem that they think she should not look the way she does, but instead like Bettie Page. Um, no. Fuck no! No, my sister doesn't need big boobs or wider hips. BECAUSE SHE WASN'T BORN THAT WAY. She is naturally very slender, and I will always think that she is beautiful. Speaking of beautiful people: Clara. She is this beautiful young woman with an extraordinary mind. She's just fantastic all around. But I don't see her body type celebrated in any fashion magazines today, or any other time period for that matter. Sure, she has large breasts and a small waist, but she doesn't look anything like Marilyn Munroe or Elizabeth Taylor. I don’t want her to; she’s perfect just as she is.
It all comes back to that idea of an "Ideal Woman" or an "Ideal Figure". It's something that the media does to control and manipulate people, and I could go on for hours about who's really controlling who and all of that, but I won't.
The fact of the matter is, more people need to look at that picture and say: I will never look like ANY OF THESE WOMEN. I will always look like me. I love looking like me.
Yibbsy out.
P.S. Also, I have two other siblings, another sister and a brother, and I hope they know that I think they also just beautiful, wonderful, talented, intelligent people. I love them!
