Growing Up Brown: Desexualized and Hyper-sexualized Originally published on Feminspire and cross-posted here with their permission. I’m always surprised by the way I look. Sometimes I look down and notice that my thighs are taking up much more space than I would like. I don’t expect to look like myself. I don’t want to look like them – not outwardly, at least. I tell myself I don’t care if I’m not “beautiful.” But then I’m caught off-guard every once in a while when I catch a glimpse of myself somewhere and realize that I do not look like anyone in the movies. Chaya Babu recently published an article on the Feminist Wire called Walking the Tightrope: Good Indian Girls, Race, and Bad Sexuality. As a Muslim and a second-generation Pakistani-American immigrant, a lot of what she said stuck with me, especially a paragraph describing her experience in high school: “Women of color were mostly unseen as partner options. I was conscious of my scarred brown thighs, my rounded face, my bony ankles, and my wide hips. You don’t look exactly right.
14 Painful Examples Of Everyday Fat-Shaming If you've ever doubted that fat-shaming is something that happens every day, just listen to the hundreds of Twitter users who shared their stories last week. Blogger Melissa McEwan created the #FatMicroaggressions hashtag to start a conversation about the inappropriate and hurtful comments directed at overweight people on a regular basis. Microaggression, a term coined by Professor Chester Middlebrook Pierce in 1970, refers to small acts of aggression towards people of a certain group -- usually those of non-privileged races, classes or ethnicities. Fat acceptance blogger Living~400lbs posits that overweight people are particularly susceptible to microaggressions because it is acceptable to be openly prejudiced against fat. In a January 2009 blog post she explained: "The problem is that many people figure fat people are not 'really' people, or at least don’t deserve to be treated like people." Here are 14 revealing tweets from people who have experienced fat-related microaggressions:
L’objectivation sexuelle des femmes : un puissant outil du patriarcat – le regard masculin Partie 1 : définition et concept-clés Partie 3 : les violences sexuelles, des actes d’objectivation extrêmes et dissociant Après une première partie introductive, je vais rentrer dans le vif du sujet et commencer par discuter de la forme d’objectivation sexuelle la plus commune, celle qui passe par le regard masculin. Cette forme d’objectivation est souvent appelée male gaze dans les pays anglo-saxons et consiste à inspecter et évaluer le corps des femmes. Sur le graphique présenté en introduction, nous nous trouvons donc à la première étape : les expériences d’objectivation sexuelle, qui surviennent quand autrui nous traite comme un objet sexuel. Graphique résumant les conséquences de l’objectivation sexuelle. Le male gaze : une prérogative des hommes qui s’exprime via le harcèlement sexuel Blachman est une émission danoise humiliante et misogyne dont le concept est le suivant : deux hommes évaluent le corps d’une femme qui se présente nue devant eux. Conséquences du harcèlement sexuel 1.
Watch A Student Totally Nail Something About Women That I've Been Trying To Articulate For 37 Years Lily Myers: Across from me at the kitchen table, my mother smiles over red wine that she drinks out of a measuring glass. She says she doesn't deprive herself, but I've learned to find nuance in every movement of her fork. In every crinkle in her brow as she offers me the uneaten pieces on her plate. I've realized she only eats dinner when I suggest it. Maybe this is why my house feels bigger each time I return; it's proportional. It was the same with his parents; as my grandmother became frail and angular her husband swelled to red round cheeks, round stomach, and I wonder if my lineage is one of women shrinking, making space for the entrance of men into their lives, not knowing how to fill it back up once they leave. I have been taught accommodation. You learned from our father how to emit, how to produce, to roll each thought off your tongue with confidence, you used to lose your voice every other week from shouting so much. There may be small errors in this transcript.
Short Hair: A Love Story I’d always had long hair. But more than having long hair, I had hair which, by our society’s beauty standards, was “beautiful” – long, silky, and straight. I had people, even complete strangers, compliment me on my locks. Some people would even tell me how beautiful I was just because of it. I would nod, smile, and say thank you. That’s what we’re taught to do when people pay us a compliment, isn’t it? But inside, I had a secret. I wanted to cut my hair. And not just a little. When I expressed this to people, they urged me not to go through with it. “It would look so ugly.” But in spite of everyone’s opinions, I cut off fifteen inches of hair last year, gifting myself the pixie haircut I always dreamed of. And I loved it. Cutting my hair was one of the best feelings in the world. But it also got me thinking: I was always physically free to cut my hair, so why did it take me so long to do it? And the truth was: I didn’t feel free. What Society (and Media) Teaches Us about Hair 1. 2. 3. Just Do It!
Venus with Biceps: A Pictorial History of Muscular Women by Maria Popova Exploring gender identity and cultural disposition through rare archival images from 1800-1980. Having competed in amateur (a.k.a. drug-free) bodybuilding in my college years and to this day remaining the dedicated maintainer of a six-pack, I’m tremendously fascinated by the intersection of femininity and muscularity. This treasure trove explores strongwomen’s legacy through rare posters, advertisements, comic books, flyers, and magazines, many never-before-published, for a total of 200 fantastic full-color and black-and-white illustrations and photographs, framed in their intriguing and far from frictionless cultural context. Among the earliest strongwomen whose names have come down to us is the subject of this lithograph: Elise Serafin Luftmann. There is something profoundly upsetting about a proud, confident, unrepentantly muscular woman. The ambivalence about women and muscularity has a long history, as it pushes at the limits of gender identity. Donating = Loving
Seduced by the Illusion: The Truth About Transformation Photos | Andrew Dixon There is no doubt that we live in a world of manipulation, false promises and exaggerated claims. This is especially true in the fitness industry. I’ve been a personal trainer for more than 11 years, and clients and friends are always telling me about the next amazing diet or exercise program. Like Insanity or P90X hold the secrets to fat loss. The reasons these programs become so popular is because they are presented and marketed very well. In my opinion, these photos are selling false or exaggerated promises of what 90 days, etc., of their program can achieve. I decided to take my own transformation photos to see what was possible with just a few easy tweaks. As you can see, I’m no bodybuilder, but I had enough muscle on me to catch some shadows from the all-important overhead lighting. Just a few weeks ago I took another series of photos in an attempt to be a little more deceptive. What’s my point? It’s all smoke and mirrors. Also On HuffPost: Weight Loss Success Stories Stacey BEFORE
MelVFitness: The hidden truths behind a transformation pic! After some serious 'like-age' on my recent Instagram post I thought i'd share with you the motivation behind the post and also a bit of truth when it comes to transformations. I opened the curtains, ditched my fwallet (threw them next to my crocs), stood taller, adjusted my posture to added a dash of self confidence and snapped the after.. pfft, who am i kidding.. I snapped about 25 afters. And after adding a filter and playing around with the zoom, I double checked with a friend that it was believable- I then posted my efforts on Insta.. and I've been VERY overwhelmed with the response. I believe my image illustrates my point, that images can be deceiving. But i really want to touch on another point.. that i feel is the bigger concern when it comes to before and after photos. To illustrate this, let me give you the very honest low down on my own real life transformation photo. This first one was taken in 2010 on a family holiday shortly after I had returned from exchange in America.
Considérée comme la femme la plus moche du monde par des internautes, elle raconte comment elle s’en est sortie ! A l’époque du lycée, Lizzie Velasquez était surnommée « La femme la plus laide du monde » par les autres élèves, qui n’avaient pas hésité à mettre une vidéo de huit secondes en ligne sur Youtube pour se moquer d’elle. Les commentaires en suite de la vidéo, intitulée « La femme la plus laide du monde », n’étaient guère plus gentils : taxée de « Monstre », les internautes encourageaient Lizzie à se suicider… Pourtant, Lizzie Velasquez n’a rien fait pour ça. Née avec une maladie rare, qui ne touche que deux autres personnes à travers le monde, cette dernière n’a pas de tissus adipeux, elle ne peut pas développer de muscles, pas plus qu’elle ne peut prendre du poids. Ainsi, son corps contient 0% de graisses corporelles, ce qui n’est pas sans laisser des séquelles physiques, et esthétiques, importantes. Si son corps est minuscule, ses organes internes, son cerveau et ses os se développent normalement. Face à ses détracteurs, la jeune femme a choisi de ne pas baisser les bras.
L’objectivation sexuelle des femmes : un puissant outil du patriarcat – Introduction Partie 2 : le regard masculin ou male gaze Partie 3 : les violences sexuelles, des actes d’objectivation extrêmes et dissociant Je vais commencer une nouvelle série d’articles sur l’objectivation sexuelle des femmes, ce que c’est, comment cela se manifeste et quelles en sont les conséquences sur la vie des femmes. Dans cette introduction, je vais donner quelques concepts clés, faire un historique de cette notion, et résumer ce que l’on sait sur l’objectivation sexuelle. Dans les articles suivant, je vais détailler certains aspects particuliers de cette objectivation. Définition et histoire d’un concept développé en philosophie La notion d’objectivation sexuelle est une notion centrale du féminisme contemporain. Emmanuel Kant Le premier à avoir introduit cette notion est le philosophe Emmanuel Kant3,4. Le concept d’objectivation sexuelle a ensuite été repris par les féministes anti-pornographie Catharine MacKinnon et Andrea Dworkin3. Andrea Dworkin Catharine Mackinnon Martha Nussbaum Conclusion
La pression pesant sur les corps féminins illustrée par des photos crues La pression que la société et les canons de beauté exercent sur les corps féminins est illustrée dans une série de photos crues. Ça fait peur et un peu mal. Malgré les dizaines de campagnes de sensibilisation qui tentent chaque année de dénoncer la pression des médias, et de la société en général, sur les corps des femmes, les diktats actuels de beauté restent assez rigides. The Fanciful, Monstrous Feminine (Le fantasque et monstrueux corps féminin) est un projet photographique de l'artiste australienne Jessica Ledwich visant à dénoncer les tortures que les femmes font subir à leur corps pour être physiquement « dans la norme ». Norme imposée par une société dans laquelle l'imperfection n'est pas une option. C'est déroutant, violent et terriblement percutant. Partage sur les réseaux sociaux & viens réagir sur le forum !
Roger Weiss Studies The Hypocrisy Of Beauty In A Series Of Photos Which Distort The Objectification Of Women Artist Studies The Hypocrisy Of Beauty In A Series Of Photos Which Distort The Objectification Of Women Roger Weiss is a Swiss-born photographer, who displays in his work the obsession with the human form and try to touch in his work, issues such as the objectification of women. Human Dilations is a study in the feminine form and foray into the subject of beauty and it’s stereotypes. “Human Dilatations does not fear the marks of frailness of the body and its imperfections,” said Weiss. source: beautifulsavage Share This With Friends « Honey Maid “Made” It Again!
Sum of the parts? How our brains see men as people and women as body parts Public release date: 25-Jul-2012 [ Print | E-mail Share ] [ Close Window ] Contact: Sarah Gervaissgervais2@unl.edu 402-472-3793University of Nebraska-Lincoln When casting our eyes upon an object, our brains either perceive it in its entirety or as a collection of its parts. A new study suggests that these two distinct cognitive processes also are in play with our basic physical perceptions of men and women -- and, importantly, provides clues as to why women are often the targets of sexual objectification. The research, published in the European Journal of Social Psychology, found in a series of experiments that participants processed images of men and women in very different ways. The study is the first to link such cognitive processes to objectification theory, said Sarah Gervais, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the study's lead author. "Local processing underlies the way we think about objects: houses, cars and so on. [ Print | E-mail