body
Feminism demands a future free of fat shaming, body obsession and the male gaze.
Going Braless
Bras are uncomfortable, sweaty, expensive, and unhealthy for people to wear. So why do so many people go every day with one? They don't actually seem to provide any benefit aside from hiding your perky nipples from the outside world. At least to me, that is.
By Blop Kitsune8 years ago in Viva
I’m Not Perfect, According to the Media...
Every step you take determines who you are. Society tries to pressure us to fit inside the social “norm” and aspire to be more like what we see in the news. I know, I know, it seems as if everybody nowadays makes the statement about the one body size that is shown in the media. However, I’m here to show the other side of the story. People always talk about the hourglass figure that is displayed in the media and how larger people need to be shown too, but rarely does someone discuss the other extreme on the spectrum, the skinny.
By Lily Penshaw8 years ago in Viva
Love Yourself, Love Your Body
This is my first post so I want to discuss something that plagues me day in and day out... the way I feel about how I look. I, like most women, have major issues with my body. My thighs are covered with cellulite, and I have trouble finding jeans that don’t make me feel like my legs will burst out of them. I constantly say I have the shoulders of a man and my arms are flabby, which means there are certain styles of tops I have to stay away from as no matter the size they will not fit me. My stomach is wobbly and I carry the dreaded “mummy pouch.” I have severe muffin top and pull my bottoms up as high as possible to cover this. Despite me feeling it’s large I have no bum no matter how much squatting I do. After loosing weight I now have no boobs and I often compare them to balloons you find 5 days after a party. I have many issues with my body and some days I find it hard to look at myself in the mirror... until tonight.
By Laura Rainbow-Fearnley8 years ago in Viva
Broken Reflections
Poor self-esteem has always been an issue of mine. I don't know where it began, but it's left its mark on me. I am a 24 year old woman with an infant child. I want the world that I raise my child in to be good and wholesome. But today I had to look into the mirror and tell that broken, desperate woman that she was beautiful and worthy of love. What kind of world is that? When did beauty become so unattainable? When did it begin to dictate the value of our lives? How do we reverse the damage and smudge out those dirty words written on our mirrors?
By Camille Martin8 years ago in Viva
Just Be YOU
When I looked in the mirror yesterday, all I saw was a 19-year-old girl with an endless amount of flaws. My hair didn’t fall the way I thought it should. I have acne spots. I looked down at my finger nails, angry that I didn’t have enough self-control to not bite them. I looked at my face—too round, too many freckles. My eyes, not blue enough. Eyebrows, they didn’t look the way the model’s did.
By Katie Hollis8 years ago in Viva
Body Image
Body image can be very important to a person. Thanks to social media and the internet, there is a stigma that most individuals that struggle with their body image are women, when in fact it's 50/50 between both women and men. However, men don’t talk about the issues, whether it is their bodies or their health, unlike some women.
By Tanisha Dagger8 years ago in Viva
“I Am Not a Victim, I Am a Survivor”
“I am not a victim, I am a survivor” and “my rapist doesn’t know he is a rapist”: a few common phrases you hear from women and men who have been raped. I am here to call bullshit, but first let me tell you about myself. My name isn’t important, but my story is, I am a sophomore in college and I was raped my junior year of high school. My boyfriend at the time and I had just gotten in a huge fight and I needed a distraction, so my friends took me to a party. While there I had a lot to drink and I met this boy. This boy had a smile that lit up the room and was throwing back drinks like a frat guy, he caught my eye the second he walked in. However, no matter the fight or the amount of alcohol I would never be unfaithful, so I continued on with my night and had fun with my friends. We played beer pong and danced on tables, eventually as everybody does while drinking I had to go to the bathroom. I couldn’t find any of my friends, so I ventured off alone, a big mistake on my part, spoiler alert. I walked up the stairs and quickly grabbed the handrail because I was very dizzy.
By Erin Connor8 years ago in Viva
Cutest Supportive Bras for Big Boobs
Ladies and gentlemen, I have big boobs. Like, really big. As in, my largest bra size was a 38L. (No, that's not a typo, there are real L-cup bras.) Nowadays, I'm down to a 36G, which is still apparently pretty darned large since it's close to halfway down the alphabet.
By Ossiana Tepfenhart8 years ago in Viva
Gordis (Fatty)
Yo soy gorda. I am fat. Not always have been. I was actually pretty skinny until the eighth grade. The only other time I was chubby was when I was a baby. Old VHS home footage shows me scooting rather than crawling, and my chubby cheeks were my best features. My nickname was "Gordis," a cute way to say gorda/fat (Anything in Spanish that has endings with -is, -ito, or -ita is meant to be cute). But I have wondered lately when I stopped being called this name that feels, I don't know, good? Warm? Nostalgic? It stopped at some point, before or after I got fat, I honestly don't remember.
By Selena Villegas8 years ago in Viva
