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.
Instagram Has Become a Body-Image Battleground
First, there was Gigi Hadid, taking to Instagram to defend herself against critics who took aim at her body type. Now, there’s Vin Diesel.
Mr. Diesel, the actor in the “Fast and Furious” series, posted a response to the accusation he had a “dad bod” on his feed over the weekend, writing, “Body-shaming is always wrong!” He then followed up with a shot flashing his (pretty pronounced) abs.
Like Ms. Hadid, Mr. Diesel received thousands of comments in response, cheering him on.
Both of them are following in the footsteps of Demi Lovato, the former Disney star-turned-troubled teenager-turned-body activist, who has been using Instagram pretty regularly to celebrate her love of her body. Ms. Lovato recently posteda picture of herself sprawled out over some sort of lounge in a playsuit and heels with the words, “Learn to lurrrrrvveee yerrrrr currrrrvveees,” adding, “I actually used to hate them.”
11 Ways To Teach Your Kids To Be Body Positive
In all honesty, I don’t think I’d ever want to be a kid or teen again. I do, however, want to have my own kids (who will inevitably/lamentably become teens) someday, and I hope to have been able to discover some ways to teach your kids to be body positive by the time that happens. Despite having more than one qualm with the whole “being an adult” thing (why can’t the universe understand there is no age limit to tutus?), I regret just how much I disliked myself in my younger years — how much I would pick apart at every feature and wish I could look more like Ballerina Barbie. All the black on black and loose-fitting sack dresses don’t feel like they had much to do with finding my own style or expressing myself. They just feel like they were about hiding my body, which is something I’d basically spend the decade between 10 and 20 doing religiously.
While I wouldn’t say that I’ve ever known a relative of mine to be truly attune to notions of size acceptance or size inclusivity, there are definitely some general life lessons I picked up from my family along the way that can be adapted to body positivity.
1 in 10 Men Experience This Body Image Disorder, So Why Aren’t We Talking About It?
Women have been speaking out about the pressure to meet a nearly unattainable body image standard for years. While this conversation is crucial, men suffer from negative body image, too. In fact, there’s a unique body-image struggle that disproportionately affects men: It’s called muscle dysmorphic disorder or “bigorexia,” and as many as 1 in 10 men in training gyms in the U.K. may experience it, according to one new study the BBC reported last week.
Muscle dysmorphic disorder is a “form of body image disturbance in men” that involves “a preoccupation with the idea that one’s body is insufficiently lean or muscular,” according a report in a 2005 issue of the journal Body Image. The phenomenon was originally called “reverse anorexia,” Leigh Cohn, president of the National Association for Males with Eating Disorders, told Mic, because of its similarity to the way those living with anorexia are unable to conceptualize how thin they actually are. Instead, individuals with muscle dysmorphic disorder see themselves as weak or not muscular enough, no matter their actual appearance.
Ronda Rousey: If anyone calls me fat one more time, I’m going to kill them
Don’t ever tell Ronda Rousey what to do with her body.
The mixed martial arts champ is tackling body image issues in Hollywood and served up some real talk in an interview with the New York Times. She shared a specific story about a time she was planning on losing weight for a video campaign, but that changed when she got some unwelcome input.
“Because somebody said something really rude to me, I came into the shoot purposely way heavier,” she says. “I swear to God,” she adds, shaking her head, “if anyone calls me fat one more time in my life, I’m going to kill them.”
There’s an aubergine for referencing a penis in conversation but when you’re trying to get deep and meaningful about vaginas, you can’t really indulge in emoji play. Unless you get highly creative, of course. And props to you for trying. I, for one, am now delighted that Flirtmoji – that company that brought us dildos and booty-call icons last year, praise be – have addressed this balance.
Behold, the most beautiful, diverse set of vaginas, you’ve encountered yet. Seriously, they’ve gone in with these emojis. There are blue ones with purple anemone pubes, there are cracked, squishy, hairy ones, there’s serious stubble going on, they’re widely asymmetrical and lopsided as hell. They’re like real vaginas. Okay, they took creative license with the bottle green one, but who cares. They’re great.
The designers themselves said the emoji-set is to “empower people of all sexualities to communicate their desires”.
Challenging social media censorship with topless photos
A transgender woman from Victoria, B.C. is testing the boundaries of social media censorship with a photo experiment showing topless photos of her transition.
Courtney Demone has only been on hormone replacement therapy for the past several months and her breasts haven’t fully developed yet so she’s been able to share topless photos of herself on social media.
But, by next year, she’ll have developed her female physique and she’s waiting to see when her body will be “sexualised enough” to be censored.
Her online experiment — documenting her transition topless — will push the boundaries of companies, like Facebook and Instagram, which only allow photos of men’s exposed nipples.
Demone wants her project to become a “conversation starter” about the double standard women face in society.
“I just want people to start thinking about gender privilege — about how society treats women and men differently and I think this is a cool way to start that conversation,” said Demone.
The writer has been sharing her journey on a weekly basis online both in print with fellow co-author Cynthia Williams and through visuals using the tags #DoIHaveBoobsNow
I’m thinking already
Love this. An issue that I know both myself and a lot of my followers sometimes struggle with!
Thanks for the post, love to read your blog.
Would love for you to check my page out as well!