My womanly figure is a gift.
In a culture that promotes and idealizes thin waifishness in women, it's hard to let our bodies be what they want to be and to accept them in their natural, feminine form. I know that for all of my adult life I have constantly judged, hated and manipulated my body in an attempt to keep it small, girlish and nonthreatening. I like this simple statement because it asks us to change our perception of what it means to be a woman and to recognize that having a womanly figure is not something to be ashamed of, but something to be grateful for.
For many of us with eating disorders, keeping our bodies as thin and girlish as possible becomes of primary importance because it makes us feel safe and in control. It makes us believe others won't be mean or unkind to us if we appear weak and nonthreatening Our eating disorders tell us that by remaining small, we are in control and are protecting ourselves from the criticism of others. But, once again, our eating disorders lied to us. Because the energy, the time, the emotional ups and downs that have gone into this constant obsession to be thin have robbed us of the time and energy and emotion that we could have been putting into other areas of our lives. Staying thin by remaining in our eating disorder doesn't give us control - it consumes our lives and ultimately leaves us feeling aimless and powerless.
This affirmation invites us to realize that our true power and true sense of self comes when we allow ourselves to become women, both physically and emotionally. To step into ourselves as strong women who aren't afraid of the world and its criticisms, who dare to let our bodies be what they want to be so that we have the time, the energy and the freedom to start pursuing our dreams, our goals, ourselves. These words are beautiful because they remind us that, although our culture tells us to remain small, girlish, waifish, and nonthreatening, the real gift, and what is truly beautiful, is when we can turn away from these arbitrary ideals and let ourselves step forward into our womanhood physically, spiritually and emotionally. Because once we step into and accept our natural, womanly bodies, we can connect to ourselves and our power and our potential And it is this connection with ourselves that ultimately allows us to become the people we want to be, moving into the world as powerful beings, allowing our individual lights to shine!
May we all practice gratitude for our womanly bodies and allow them to anchor us to our inner power!
Taylor
May we all practice gratitude for our womanly bodies and allow them to anchor us to our inner power!
Taylor
Growing up I always felt self-conscious when I was feeling "large" that people would see me as manly.To this day I hate when my breasts or thighs feel big as I fear that it signifies weight gain. I feel my most feminine when I am at my thinnest, which is silly because a lack of breasts and thighs is more common of a boyish form. However, I too am working to counter those thoughts and embrace my curves as a symbol of my femininity.
ReplyDeleteYes, our EDs like to tell us that to be thin and waif-like makes us more attractive and womanly. As you said, this is actually the exact opposite of the natural feminine form. One of the hardest parts of recovery is retraining ourselves to begin to change our views about our bodies and what makes them healthy and beautiful.
DeleteYes, our EDs like to tell us that to be thin and waif-like makes us more attractive and womanly. As you said, this is actually the exact opposite of the natural feminine form. One of the hardest parts of recovery is retraining ourselves to begin to change our views about our bodies and what makes them healthy and beautiful.
Delete