Introductions, introductions

Mission Statement

The purpose behind the creation of this blog is to promote body positivity in whatever way I can. To some people, that means being comfortable with their weight. To someone else, that means being comfortable with the size of their breasts or the width of their hips or the prominence of bones under their skin. Or the amount of body hair they have. Or scar tissue left over the past. There are a myriad of reasons why someone might think negatively about their body, but I think everyone would benefit from and SHOULD have a positive body-image, regardless of what society holds up as the ideal.

(A person's self-worth shouldn't depend solely on their physical appearance, people are obviously deeper and more complex than that, but in today's celebrity-soaked, shiny, plastic pop culture, I think it's easier to be overly critical and negative than positive.)

Important: I want to state outright that I don't intend to deal only with issues that involve women and fat acceptance. Although those are particularly relevant to *me*, I want to move beyond that and use this platform to help *everyone*. It might take a little while for me to develop a more balanced representation of bodies, but I want people to know that that's the goal I'm setting for this from the get-go.

I intend to post: art of bodies, art of bodies that I've made, this and that from Tumblr, overviews of books that deal with body image/self worth, quotes, and input from friends who want to say something. This isn't an exhaustive list; it's merely what I've thought up so far.

About Me

My name's Mary. I'm a recent college graduate with a bachelor's degree in painting, a minor in English lit., and a strong interest in feminism and body positivity. I struggle with self-esteem and body-image issues due to depression and polycystic ovarian syndrome and I will be the first to admit that I'm still working very hard toward having a positive view of myself.

I make no claims about knowing what the hell I'm doing with this. I just know that I feel compelled to try and do something - for all of my friends who are critical of their beautiful selves, for all the people who get ridiculed for not fitting the norm (whatever the hell that may be), for all the people who have spent years hating their bodies, for everyone who is comfortable with themselves but could use a little reminder that they're awesome, and for myself.