Inspiration

While curvy women may not be the majority in the modeling industry. We do have some great role models in the entertainment world. 

Marilyn is one of my favorites. She is so sassy and really stood up for what she believed in.

This explains my feelings every day incredibly well. You don't have to starve yourself to be beautiful. With that being said I know Jordin Sparks (just like myself) doesn't sit idly in bed every day. I enjoy exercising, but if I miss one week because I'm sick, my ass grows 2 sizes and I'm back to square one. I don't need to torture myself over that.

It took me a while to realize they are a part of me and I love it.

Alicia Keys. AKA Superwoman.

Amazing woman. Wise words that every girl should hear.

Be proud of your body!

This woman is amazing. Robyn Lawley is a plus size model, but who says she is plus size? The modeling industry that's who and no one else because she represents what women look like. Women. Not plus not big not fat just women. 

Just a good way to live life.

Happy inspiring Monday!

We aren't to blame for our weight

An argument that really bothers me is that "fat" people want to be "fat." Here is where my anthropology major brain kicks in to say: hey you don't know the half of it.

In 1850 the average American male was 5 ft 7.4 inches and 146 pounds. By 2000 the average American male was 5 ft 9 inches and 191 pounds. A significant difference. 14 years later, I'm sure the figures have grown*.

Why, you ask?

Cultural changes due to modernity have occurred over the last 200 years that have caused these physical changes in our population. The height change is most likely due to better nutrition, while the weight change is most likely due to over nourishment.

However, there are also socioeconomic reasons behind human height and weight. Lower income families tend to eat less protein and fiber because they have less access to it. While the foods higher in fat and sugar are more affordable and therefore consumed more by lower income families. There is a privilege in eating healthy, especially organically.

With that being said the entire Western diet is high in saturated fat and sugar and lower in fiber. There is actually a scientific term for this: the nutrition transition. The nutrition transition is the shift to a diet high in saturated fat and sugar that has caused the obesity epidemic around the world. The problem with this starting in the Western diet, is that the whole world strives towards what is Western. I will talk about this food privilege further in a later post and why this has poor effects on health and it's social implications. For now lets look at these charts:

Table A. Soviet Unions consumption of red meat, cereals, sugars and tubers between 1960 and 1985.

Table B. Obesity trends in lower-income countries. BMI means Body Mass Index. According to cancer.org a healthy BMI is between 18 and 25.

Table A shows an obvious increase in red meat and sugar consumption with a decrease in cereals and tubers in the Soviet Union between 1960 and 1985. By 1985 the Soviet Union was seeing an increase in cardiovascular disease and diabetes. The correlation between their diet and these diseases cannot be disputed.

Table B shows the nutrition transition occurring in Brazil, China, India, Mauritius, Russia, Nauru, Western Samoa and Kuwait over the course of ten years with the increase in percentage of people who have an unhealthy BMI.

I do not mean to say that these unhealthy ways are okay. I am saying it is not a single persons choice to eat how they eat or look how they look. The truth is: we live in a modern world where everything is really complicated...

*the statistical information and reasons behind them in this post come from my Biological Anthropology class textbook entitled Our Origins by Clark Spencer Larsen. (Larsen 2011: 430-432).
 

Skinny people have feelings too

Before I get too far down the line with this I want to make a disclosure.

I recently read a blog recently entitled Real Women DON'T Have Curves. While I was put off at first by the title, the rest of the article made a lot of sense. Every woman is a REAL women. Skinny women (here to mean sizes 0 and 2, as seen in the modeling world) can be sensitive to jabs at their appearance as well. Such as the infamous: "why don't you go eat a cheeseburger?" Or "look at those mosquito bites."

I do wonder if somehow this article is missing a key aspect of this dialogue, though. Because while some women who are skinny may not want to be skinny, I believe it is the media that makes them feel this way. As young girls we are exposed to things in magazines and on the television (now on the internet as well) that tell us what beautiful is. Going back and looking at my Seventeen Magazines I noticed a trend: white, blonde, skinny, and makeup.

I want to add to the article by saying whether we were born a woman or wish we were, no matter what our ethnicity is, and what religion we practice or don't practice we are all women. It's not just about body size or physical characteristics anymore, it's also about background.

However, I appreciate this article so much because what I personally got from it was a really important lesson:

All women are real women. It is unnecessary for women to fat shame, skinny shame, slut shame, or prude shame each other. Women shaming women must stop.

With that being said I think it is about time that every kind of woman is represented in the media. The fact that our Miss America is of Indian descent is absolutely spectacular. But what is not spectacular is the reaction it got from many Americans: racism. While it is sad, I am not surprised that many Americans reacted this way because diversity in the modeling and acting world is not seen in America. Once diversity is the norm then things will change for the better. We do not live in a post-racial society. We have to continue fighting. 

I'm not sure if all of that made sense. It makes sense in my head, but I know I went from skinny to race in the blink of an eye. The truth is, it's all connected in some way. I hope we can see soon soon how we are all connected with one another. 

http://blogs.uoregon.edu/j350dove/2013/06/11/agenda-setting/

Tata for now!

The Struggle is Real

I have been aware of my curves since I was a preteen. Middle school is where it all began. Yes, the cat-calling occurred at a young age. Who knew middle school boys could be so crude. Some even thought it was okay to slap me on the butt when I walked down the hallway... How is that okay?

Needless to say, since puberty life has been a struggle for a lady with a curvy body such as myself. Not only is the attention unwanted, but shopping is a drag. I have no idea where I got my curves from because my mother shops in the petite section at Anne Taylor Loft. Needless to say, she was no help in the plus size pants department.

So I have decided to start a blog to get some off it off my chest. But I hope in the process it turns into a place where women can come together and talk about how we are vivacious and not just bodacious. It took me a while but I have grown to mostly love my body. Granted there are days I hate it (like the day that inspired me to start this blog), but I have to remind myself that I am more than my curves. They are a part of me, but they are not the whole me and my character is just as sexy.

If I wasn't a poor college student with no background in business I would start my own brand of jeans that fit over a gorgeous pair of thighs, but aren't baggy around the waist. I'd create a cupcake that promised to put the fat where you wanted it to instead of where you didn't. And I would replace the entire modeling industry with people who knew what it's like to grow up thinking you aren't the worlds version of beautiful. Since I cannot do all of these things, I have put it on myself to instead instill in women's brains everywhere that they are the worlds version of beautiful. We don't need society to tell us who we are and we don't need to starve ourself on those 100 Calorie snacks to feel pretty. I exercise and eat spinach, but I don't want to do it every day so I don't. Be happy to be healthy.

Throughout my blog I will give some statistics, I may go on some rants, I'll tell stories (that will probably go off topic), I'll give advice (well I'll tell you what I'm doing and you can decide if you wanna do it, up to you!) and I hope to give inspiration. I want my kids to grow up without body image problems. It's an out-there-in-outerspace goal, but I believe it's possible. We shall see.

Lots of love