Bonnie on Body Image

Our bodies are pretty miraculous. Think about it: each part of the human body has a particular role and function to perform and they occur simultaneously. Our bodies are constantly working, always in motion, never truly at rest. Consider all the things that your body can do. Do it, I dare you, make a list!!

Here's mine:

I can stand on my head.

I can whistle.

I can roll my tongue.

I can pogo-stick without hands.

I can dance.

I can touch my toes.

I can sing with my mouth closed.

I can make cookies.

I can deliver cookies to friends.

I can laugh hard.

I can make others laugh.

I can smile with my eyes.

I can start a one-match fire.

I can dream while asleep...and while awake.

I can read a novel from start-to-finish.

I can tell you who the mother of modern dance is...(it's Martha Graham btw)

I could walk a marathon...(one day I'll run one)

I can quote the balcony seen from Romeo & Juliet after memorizing it 7 years ago.

I can love another person.

I can empathize with someone whose gone through difficult trials.

This is just a short list of the things my body is able to accomplish. Really, the list is never-ending. My body is amazing! What's sad is that media would like to tell us otherwise. The media tells us that we are never good enough, looks are the biggest indicator of our success, and that we must look an exact way to be considered beautiful. The media is wrong. I am beautiful! I may not have a perfect gap between my thighs, perfectly arched eyebrows, flawless skin or be well-endowed in the chest area, but I am beautiful. It's not my looks that make me beautiful, although I would say that I am quite fond of the features I do have, it's what I do with my body that makes me beautiful. What good is a beautiful smile if it doesn't create another smile on another face? What good are pretty hands if they never reach out to a friend? The media will tell you that the way your body looks is everything. I'm telling you that what you choose to do with your body is everything.

I have bought-into the media's lies. They are pretty convincing salespeople. It's hard to not believe their sales pitches when they are coming at you from all angles. And just because I've been able to see past one lie, doesn't mean I haven't believed another. So much of what is presented in the media is false. I would like to see the media portraying truth: women and men from all shapes, sizes, ages, and races that are beautiful because of the good that they do. This blog has been created to remind us and all who come across it that so much of what is presented in the media is inaccurate. Our other goal in creating this blog is to  become a media source that promotes a healthy, positive, and realistic idea of beauty.