There's more work to do!
It is really hard for me to tell you how I felt about my body when I was younger, because 20, 30, and now the 40’s are all younger to me! I do remember my Mom and my grandmother were always on a diet and my dad used to say really derogatory things about women who were over weight. I always felt like I wasn’t womanly enough, because I was such a tomboy. This was reinforced when both of my sisters, who are 1 and 2 years younger than me, started their periods before I did, and started developing breasts, where I had none! This made me very self conscious and I don’t think I ever felt comfortable about my body until I was in my thirties. I went to my sister and asked her what to do when I started my period because I didn’t want anyone to make a big deal about it. I do remember my Mom telling me before I started, when I was upset about my sisters starting, that I would be glad some day that mine started later! Boy was she right! Now that I haven’t had a period in over two years, I almost wish I could go back to those days, because my body is so different now. And I had just gotten used to the old one!
While doing the readings this week I really could relate to the story in Red by Meike Schleiff. Although I did not have a problem with food, I did have a problem with drugs and alcohol. When she wrote “I was completely removed from the life I’d known” I could remember feeling exactly like this! Before I started using I had a total different life, with totally different kinds of friends, and when you wake up one day and don’t know how you got there it is pretty weird. I could also relate to Caro Fink on page 24 when she states that “quitting was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done” I knew exactly what she meant. And I also understand what she means at the end of her story when she says hers is a “neutral ending” because like any addiction, staying quit is the tricky part! There are no guarantees.
On the website Love Your Body: Offensive Ads I was totally offended by the ad in Esquire, with the girl in a suggestive position and all those men looking down on her like it was a gang rape of some sort. Being a rape survivor I am appalled that something like this was printed in a men’s magazine, suggesting that it is ok. All the ads I saw on this website as well as the ones on About Face are really despicable. The media is where the men and the women get their ideas from and we will not be able to change how society thinks about girls, or their periods until we start putting out different messages. That’s why I am glad there is a website for girls that talks about their periods, and sex so openly. I wish I would have had that. I was having a conversation with me 25 year old stepson and he actually said that his mom was no longer interested in having a boyfriend because she was going though the “change of life”. I almost lost my mind! I thought we had come further than that with the younger generation. But after hearing that, and seeing all these ads, it feels like there is a lot more to be done!
While doing the readings this week I really could relate to the story in Red by Meike Schleiff. Although I did not have a problem with food, I did have a problem with drugs and alcohol. When she wrote “I was completely removed from the life I’d known” I could remember feeling exactly like this! Before I started using I had a total different life, with totally different kinds of friends, and when you wake up one day and don’t know how you got there it is pretty weird. I could also relate to Caro Fink on page 24 when she states that “quitting was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done” I knew exactly what she meant. And I also understand what she means at the end of her story when she says hers is a “neutral ending” because like any addiction, staying quit is the tricky part! There are no guarantees.
On the website Love Your Body: Offensive Ads I was totally offended by the ad in Esquire, with the girl in a suggestive position and all those men looking down on her like it was a gang rape of some sort. Being a rape survivor I am appalled that something like this was printed in a men’s magazine, suggesting that it is ok. All the ads I saw on this website as well as the ones on About Face are really despicable. The media is where the men and the women get their ideas from and we will not be able to change how society thinks about girls, or their periods until we start putting out different messages. That’s why I am glad there is a website for girls that talks about their periods, and sex so openly. I wish I would have had that. I was having a conversation with me 25 year old stepson and he actually said that his mom was no longer interested in having a boyfriend because she was going though the “change of life”. I almost lost my mind! I thought we had come further than that with the younger generation. But after hearing that, and seeing all these ads, it feels like there is a lot more to be done!
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