This is where we share stuff we can’t share on Facebook page for fear of being kicked out! Read why here. Usually the posts are about body image, sometimes there’s nudity but we’re all adults here. Right? Why does a fitness blog even care about body image? You can read about that here.
24 Women Bare Their Scars To Reveal The Beauty In Imperfections
I was only 6 years old when doctors sliced me open and removed my left kidney.
At the time, I didn’t really understand what the fuss was all about. The gravity of the situation didn’t hit me until my dad had to say goodbye in the surgery room. He picked me up and placed me on the cold operating table. That’s when I realized he wasn’t staying. The look on his face told me to be brave as he held my little hand.
Eighteen years later I still remember that look. And every time I look down at my scar, I remember to be brave.
That’s what scars do. They tell a story. They remind us to keep going or to take a deep breath and rest. Scars remind us of a funny moment or a battle survived.
Women can have complex relationships with these scars and their origin stories, whether it’s from falling in heels to getting a C-section and even undergoing a mastectomy.
To highlight these stories and the women who have lived them, The Huffington Post photographed 24 women and their scars. Some of the scars were nothing more than a clumsy moment, while others are life-changing experiences that turned women into warriors.
Below are 24 women, their scars and the stories behind them. Each woman proves that imperfections can truly be beautiful, but even more than being beautiful — these scars remind us just how resilient, adaptable and strong women are.
The statement “I am enough” means different things to everyone. For me, it means that I have grown to know who I am and I am able to accept myself. It also means that I choose to surround myself with individuals who have a positive impact on me and my journey. The road to acceptance hasn’t been easy. This may be my most personal post, but I think the details of how I got to where I am today are important.
Why An Emmy Award For Body Positivity Should Go To ‘Orange Is The New Black’
Unsurprisingly, Orange Is the New Black has nabbed a few Emmy nominations this year, including one for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama for the unstoppable Uzo Aduba. Additionally, the show scored a nomination for Best Drama Series. If you ask me, though, OITNB should also be taking home the Emmy for the most body positive TV show on air today.
I know, I know: “Most Body Positive Series” isn’t an Emmy category. But it really should be. After all, body positivity is all anyone is talking about these days. OITNB has not only cast vocally body positive stars in the show, but the fundamental ideas behind body positivity are actually written into the scripts. With every sex-positive scene, unabashed portrayal of unconventional bodies, and moment when otherwise marginalized voices are given a story, the show creates the kind of visibility that few others programs (if any) have managed successfully.
Serena & Venus: Creating Mirrors
You guys know about vampires?” Dominican American writer Junot Diaz asked. “You know, vampires have no reflections in a mirror? There’s this idea that monsters don’t have reflections in a mirror. And what I’ve always thought it isn’t that monsters don’t have reflections in a mirror. It’s that if you want to make a human being into a monster, deny them, at the cultural level, any reflection of themselves.”
That process of ongoing dehumanization through an absence of representation or tokenizing ones at best has been plaguing the career of Serena Williams. Coming from humble beginnings out of Compton, she has had a career unmatched in length, skill and success. Despite this, over the years Williams has been described by online commenters and journalists alike as a “gorilla,” as “manly”, “savage” “aggressively off-putting” even in articles praising her accomplishments. These comments are indicative of the racialized sexism that Serena has encountered throughout her career and an industry that is ill prepared to challenge it.
feminism is specifically about empowering women in a culture that systematically disempowers femininity, with gender equality as a goal.
It is about adjusting the way our culture values masculine and feminine traits that can be expressed by people of all genders, keeping in mind that our heteronormative society associates femininity with women, and by extension, women with frailty or weakness.
The recent ‘adjustment’ to the definition that aggressively advocates for “empowering men and women equally because equality!!!1” comes from trying to appease men who think that feminism is inherently sexist and aims to take opportunities away from them. (and also serves to perpetuate the idea that gender is a binary)
Watching girls proudly claim that feminism means women and men should be empowered equally and actively challenge ideas that feminism is specifically about empowering women is disheartening, and largely inaccurate.
I can’t say this enough:
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SAY THAT FEMINISM IS ABOUT EMPOWERING MEN TOO IN ORDER FOR FEMINISM TO BE CONSIDERED VALID.
