Is the Quarantine15 on your mind? It needn’t be. We’re living in unprecedented times, and the fears are real. But fearing weight gain shouldn’t be one of them. Social media’s latest pandemic hashtag — quarantine15 — is just ol’ diet culture ramping up again to prey upon our body insecurities, body shaming us for profit. I’m sure […]
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Remember the little girl who used to run through the sprinkler wearing her swimsuit, shouting and giggling with pure joy? Not once did she think about her body’s appearance. She had full body freedom. Then she grew older, and culture’s body perfectionist ideals engulfed her thoughts about her body. That girl may now be you, struggling with […]
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Body acceptance is a radical act of self- love. Amy Pence-Brown, a 39-year-old mother of three, is a body image activist internationally known for her radical stand for self-love at the Capitol City Public Market in 2015. Pence-Brown stood blindfolded in a black bikini, with the following message written on a chalkboard placed at her feet, holding […]
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Your thighs are too big. Your belly isn’t flat. You have too many wrinkles. Your stretch marks are ugly. Your grey hairs make you look old. Your cellulite is hideous. Millions of women hear hurtful statements like those when they look in the mirror. I was one of them. These were my statements. I bet they’ve been […]
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Your body is not a billboard for your health. Your body is your home.” — Amy Pershing, founder of Bodywise When we look at our health and bodies from this perspective, we can make room for self-compassion, tolerance and patience. Yet American culture focuses the lens on our physical appearance, convincing us that our health is defined […]
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Though we believe fat is bad, it’s not our fault. “Fat” has been promoted as a dirty word in American culture since World War II, when the diet and fitness industries promoted mass obsession with weight and body shape. “In the United States, fat is seen as repulsive, ugly, unclean, obscene and above all as something to […]
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Dear Diet Culture, Things just aren’t working out between us. You make me feel ashamed when I’ve eaten a “bad” food. You make me feel dirty if I haven’t eaten “clean.” You’ve taken away my personal autonomy to choose what to eat and enjoy eating. I will no longer allow you to judge my self-worth by my […]
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“Mom, I’m fat.” No mom wants to hear that comment from her daughter. Yet never before have our girls been more obsessed with their weight and appearance. Girls are more afraid of becoming fat than they are of nuclear war, cancer or losing their parents, according to the Council on Size and Weight Discrimination. Chronic dieting, low […]
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If you think healthy eating means perfect eating, think again. Because you know what’s even healthier than kale? A good relationship with food and your body. If your pursuit of healthy eating doesn’t consider your relationship with food you’re missing a critical ingredient. While I bet you understand the importance of healthy human relationships, you might overlook […]
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“Defy your age — get your body back.” “Take the 10-year social media photo challenge.” “fifty is the new 30.” What do all these messages tell us about aging in today’s body-centric culture? Don’t. When I turned 50, I’ll be honest: I’d been thinking about aging a lot leading up to that birthday. There’s no doubt that […]
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