Category Archive

body image

An extremely relatable bathroom adventure with shapewear

On this particular evening I was in full Spanx. I did look great in the dress, but I had not thought about how bathroom breaks would work. I took a bathroom break during the award ceremony and it was exhausting.

I’m totally going to overshare here…

How underwater maternity photos helped me enjoy my pregnant body

Why underwater maternity photos? Because any time I have my picture taken my brain is all, “Have my arms always been this… weird!? Why are my hands so flappy? Is THIS what my smile feels like? HOW DO LEGS WORK!???” Amplify those body issues by, well, two when you’re pregnant and it can feel even MORE awkward. But under the water, all of that changes! And the result is all this mermaid awesomeness…

You’re looking at crones. Can you see the beauty?

In our society, it is not acceptable for female-identified people to age. We are all downloaded with the message that we are supposed to look 20 years old forever. We get mad when our bodies begin to droop, sag, slow down, and our physical/mental abilities change.

But aging is a reminder that we are having a finite experience on the planet… and that is beautiful.

When kids books go bad: how Mr. Men and Little Miss teach kids to hate themselves

When kids books go bad: how Mr. Men and Little Miss teach kids to hate themselves

There are a lot of books that I enjoyed as a child that dismay me as an adult. I try not to be a loud feminist killjoy too often, but occasionally I come out of hiding from my lair, like when I read this outdated series of books that somehow ended up in my house and has been taken up by my son with great enthusiasm…

Do I shave my armpit hair to keep family peace?

Do I shave my armpit hair to keep the peace with my family?

Several months ago, I committed to stop shaving my armpits. My cousin is getting married in a couple of weeks. The wedding is a big deal, and will be pretty formal. My extended family dynamic is such that it will likely be perceived as a personal attack to the bride if I show up with hairy pits. I’m really conflicted. Do I just shave for the sake of keeping the peace? Do I hide my hairy pits? Or do I just say “Fuck it!” not make a big deal of it, and let my family and my cousin think what they think?

A fat suit, really? Netflix's new show Insatiable is not what we need right now

A fat suit, really? Netflix’s new show Insatiable is not what we need right now

I was introduced to a new Netflix series “Insatiable,” which presents a fat teen bullied by her high school classmates who gets clocked in the face and loses a bunch of weight due to her jaw being wired shut over the summer. She comes back after losing a lot of weight, now perceived as “hot,” and exacts revenge on her bullying classmates.

I am gender fluid and losing weight. How will I feel about my body after?

I am gender fluid and losing weight. How will I feel about my body after?

I’ve just recently come to the realization that I am genderfluid. Ever since I was a toddler, I’ve been this mix of feminine and masculine, insisting on wearing fluffy dresses while playing Power Rangers. I’ve always felt too masculine to be a girl and too feminine to be a boy.

How do others in the trans and genderqueer community handle physical body changes like weight loss? Does anyone else worry their perception of their own gender, or lack thereof, could change at the end of that particular journey?

Get your daily self love by following these body positive Instagram accounts

Get your daily self love by following these body positive Instagram accounts

We’ve been having some discussions about body positivity lately that made me remember that not everyone is entrenched in body positive role models on social media as others of us are. What better way to shine some light on our favorite bad-ass body positive babes than by finding some of the best body positive Instagram accounts out there?

Whether they’re loving their fat bodies, their differently-abled bodies, their perceived “flaws,” their feminism, and their everyday realness, these are some babes who will prove that “the norm” means nothing.