As women, we’re trained from childhood to believe that it’s socially inappropriate to love our bodies, or at least, to admit that we love them. We’re taught, instead, to bond with each other over our hatred of our bodies, and various different parts of our bodies. If a friend starts complaining about “feeling fat,” we know the rules: tell her she isn’t fat, and then find some part of your own body to complain about. Similarly, when we’re complimented on our looks, we’re taught to “be modest” and say lame phrases like “Oh, this old thing?!” or “Oh, thanks, but I really wish I had your butt/boobs/face/hair/feet/hands/etc.” Sometimes we even talk badly about women who seem “full of themselves,” and we’re definitely scared of being talked badly about for being “full of ourselves.” We may admit that we like one, maybe two, things about our looks, but the list of things we claim to hate is usually super long. This means that, as women, we spend a lot of time hanging out with other women while we all pick apart our bodies, piece by piece. We may compliment each other, but we don’t compliment ourselves, and we talk a lot about feeling jealous of other women because we wish we had “her thighs/boobs/butt/stomach/hair/etc.” We almost NEVER spend time with other women while we all talk about things we like about our bodies. In other words, positive body talk doesn’t seem to happen “naturally.” The real women I’ve asked to make a list of things they like about themselves deviates from social “norms”. What I mean by this, is that instead of only hearing women say things like “I like being tall, thin, blonde, with big boobies” women talk about loving features that make them unique and special. Here are some examples below and I encourage you this weekend to make a list of at least 5 things you like about yourself, keep it somewhere you can see it daily and add to it weekly! curly hair, freckles, pretty hands, long hair, my moms eyes, full lips, skin tone, strong legs, curvy hips etc. this is your homework this weekend @janna830 @maryjean11 @shelleyrbracamonte @karliee33 @lalalush15

As women, we’re trained from childhood to believe that it’s socially inappropriate to love our bodies, or at least, to admit that we love them. We’re taught, instead, to bond with each other over our hatred of our bodies, and various different parts of our bodies. If a friend starts complaining about “feeling fat,” we know the rules: tell her she isn’t fat, and then find some part of your own body to complain about. Similarly, when we’re complimented on our looks, we’re taught to “be modest” and say lame phrases like “Oh, this old thing?!” or “Oh, thanks, but I really wish I had your butt/boobs/face/hair/feet/hands/etc.” Sometimes we even talk badly about women who seem “full of themselves,” and we’re definitely scared of being talked badly about for being “full of ourselves.” We may admit that we like one, maybe two, things about our looks, but the list of things we claim to hate is usually super long.

This means that, as women, we spend a lot of time hanging out with other women while we all pick apart our bodies, piece by piece. We may compliment each other, but we don’t compliment ourselves, and we talk a lot about feeling jealous of other women because we wish we had “her thighs/boobs/butt/stomach/hair/etc.” We almost NEVER spend time with other women while we all talk about things we like about our bodies. In other words, positive body talk doesn’t seem to happen “naturally.” The real women I’ve asked to make a list of things they like about themselves deviates from social “norms”. What I mean by this, is that instead of only hearing women say things like “I like being tall, thin, blonde, with big boobies” women talk about loving features that make them unique and special. Here are some examples below and I encourage you this weekend to make a list of at least 5 things you like about yourself, keep it somewhere you can see it daily and add to it weekly!
curly hair, freckles, pretty hands, long hair, my moms eyes, full lips, skin tone, strong legs, curvy hips etc. this is your homework this weekend @janna830 @maryjean11 @shelleyrbracamonte @karliee33 @lalalush15