Oh Lauren, this walloped me: “I don’t want taking my last breath to be the only time I ever really lived, the only time I ever let my body just be.” It’s so jarring to look back on old photos, even ones from a few years back, and realise how perfect we actually are even though at the time we’ve got some story about what needs changing. It’s so warped and body dysmorphia is so hard.
Tbh, I had this gnarly experience in early 2021 of not being able to walk properly because of my quads + glutes atrophying from sitting more. I could barely get out of bed. During rehab to rebuild the muscle, I asked my physio if each body’s muscular distribution is consistent with what that unique skeleton needs and she said yes! I’d spent 32 years critiquing my muscular thighs, and now they were finally slim but I couldn’t move without pain. It was such a wild learning curve to be shown that everything was as nature intended it. I wish the singularity of each human body was celebrated, but capitalism and beauty standards just doesn’t seem to want that! Thank you so much for writing this ❤️
Thank you so much for reading, Aoife 🫶 Body dysmorphia is so awful and it’s wild how many of us feel it. I often wonder what life would be like if we didn’t have these unrealistic beauty standards.
Oh my gosh, I’m sorry you went through that and am so glad you’re no longer in pain. Functionality is not something beauty standards take into account—muscle is necessary! A few of the instructors at my local fitness studio have been on Ozempic and one of them now needs hip surgery (likely from the drop in muscle and bone density)…I can’t wait for this GLP-1 era to be over.
Ugh such beautiful writing on such a tough topic! I'm right there with ya on appreciating our bodies (actually am starting somatic therapy next week to nourish that mind-body connection) and how it's such a lifelong pursuit (esp when it feels like we're basically set up to fail by the media/broader culture). Love the thought of fun as an antidote to it! And a way of building trust again with our bodies
You are beautiful, and strong, and it’s so cool you’ve been revisiting your adolescent hobbies! Our bodies were made to move and carry us through life, I really wish society focused more on that, especially for us women.
Being pregnant has brought with it a weird experience in this regard—I can’t tell you how many comments I’ve gotten on being “small” for how far along I am and it irks me like no other because I feel like my experience is being invalidated and I’m not “big enough.” It’s a total mindfuck. I straight up told my coworker in response to a small comment the other day “yeah, every body is made differently.” Anyway, rant over.
Also, I was so bummed (still am) when I saw Serena started using and advocating for GLP-1’s 😕
Oh Lauren, this walloped me: “I don’t want taking my last breath to be the only time I ever really lived, the only time I ever let my body just be.” It’s so jarring to look back on old photos, even ones from a few years back, and realise how perfect we actually are even though at the time we’ve got some story about what needs changing. It’s so warped and body dysmorphia is so hard.
Tbh, I had this gnarly experience in early 2021 of not being able to walk properly because of my quads + glutes atrophying from sitting more. I could barely get out of bed. During rehab to rebuild the muscle, I asked my physio if each body’s muscular distribution is consistent with what that unique skeleton needs and she said yes! I’d spent 32 years critiquing my muscular thighs, and now they were finally slim but I couldn’t move without pain. It was such a wild learning curve to be shown that everything was as nature intended it. I wish the singularity of each human body was celebrated, but capitalism and beauty standards just doesn’t seem to want that! Thank you so much for writing this ❤️
Thank you so much for reading, Aoife 🫶 Body dysmorphia is so awful and it’s wild how many of us feel it. I often wonder what life would be like if we didn’t have these unrealistic beauty standards.
Oh my gosh, I’m sorry you went through that and am so glad you’re no longer in pain. Functionality is not something beauty standards take into account—muscle is necessary! A few of the instructors at my local fitness studio have been on Ozempic and one of them now needs hip surgery (likely from the drop in muscle and bone density)…I can’t wait for this GLP-1 era to be over.
Body dysmorphia is awful. You are beautiful! And that cover album is definitely edited!
It’s the worst. But thank you, and thank you for reading! And I agree, it definitely is
Ugh such beautiful writing on such a tough topic! I'm right there with ya on appreciating our bodies (actually am starting somatic therapy next week to nourish that mind-body connection) and how it's such a lifelong pursuit (esp when it feels like we're basically set up to fail by the media/broader culture). Love the thought of fun as an antidote to it! And a way of building trust again with our bodies
You are beautiful, and strong, and it’s so cool you’ve been revisiting your adolescent hobbies! Our bodies were made to move and carry us through life, I really wish society focused more on that, especially for us women.
Being pregnant has brought with it a weird experience in this regard—I can’t tell you how many comments I’ve gotten on being “small” for how far along I am and it irks me like no other because I feel like my experience is being invalidated and I’m not “big enough.” It’s a total mindfuck. I straight up told my coworker in response to a small comment the other day “yeah, every body is made differently.” Anyway, rant over.
Also, I was so bummed (still am) when I saw Serena started using and advocating for GLP-1’s 😕