I'm not sure if you noticed, but there is a huge movement going on right now to empower women in the bodies that they're currently in. There's a big push for women to accept their flaws and flaunt their assets; to slay every single day no matter how big or small they are. BUT.
But here's the thing. As a chunky woman living in this movement, I see several issues, but for your sake, I'll only outline two of them.
It Encourages Ab Shaming
You know when you see someone with a giant house, a nice car, tons of money in their bank account and then they complain about how their housekeeper never shows up on time? We've all been there and the majority reacts something like this, "Must be nice to only have to worry about your housekeeper showing up on time. I wish I had those issues." It seems luxurious and borderline trivial.
This is how the body positive movement is going... we are putting so much emphasis on chunky women and dismissing the skinny women and the athletic women. Why are they complaining? They have what we all want, so why do we need to listen to their complaints?
Because, well, they are people. And while we may think they look KILLER in that lingerie, we have no idea what they see in the mirror.
As chunky women, we need to do a better job of celebrating all body types, not just the big ones. We need to do a better job of being empathetic to these women and stop making comments that dismiss their self-criticism. After all, isn't that what the movement is about? Making all women feel better on the INSIDE.
It's Making Excuses for Me
Look, I've always been a bigger woman. The last time I considered myself "skinny," I was in the second grade. I am a yo-yo dieter, my weight fluctuates like a roller coaster, and my mental health is along for the ride half the time.
I don't need a body positive movement to encourage me to stay fat. I need a body positive movement to encourage me to get off the couch and go for a walk, to push me to do yoga in my living room, to entice me to eat healthy. Body positive should mean health positive. Physical health encourages mental health and mental health drives positivity and positivity is what makes people happy.
I'm not saying stop putting plus sized women in magazines and in advertisements, chunky women are good too (trust me, I'm awesome), but all too often I see so much sass surrounding a woman's weight and not enough sass surrounding her brain. We need to do a better job of staying healthy, regardless of how that translates to pounds. This is a two part system. First be healthy and then slay no matter your shape or size.
Boudoir is for Every Body
I write this blog with intentions. I want you to know that when I say, "Boudoir is for every body," I mean it wholeheartedly.
Boudoir is for the fat girl and the curvy girl, but it's also for the skinny girl and the athletic girl. Boudoir is for everyone because it does something bigger than making your body look its best, it heals you. It heals your mind. It lifts a weight from your shoulders that tells you that you aren't enough.
I do boudoir photography to capture your mind, not just your body. So while a lot of conversation is encouraging chunky women to get in front of a camera, my goal is to get YOU in front of a camera to heal your mind and encourage you to be "more" mentally, to show you who you are and to prove to you that you are beautiful and you are capable of powering through the daily challenges that bog down your mind and alters how you feel when you look in the mirror.
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