the good body is a strong one
Nov. 11th, 2005 05:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anotheranonWise words from the Brutal Woman about reasons to be strong. doG, she is so right!
Back in college I was slimmer but was utterly pathetic with any kind of physical effort. I remember stressing that I couldn't lift my own suitcase, record box, computer monitor etc. without extreme effort and/or pain. I remember one time carrying a box of records up 4 flights of stairs (no elevator in that building) to the college radio station and practically being in tears when I got there, partly out of embarassment and partly out of the sheer physical effort.
Now I can lift those damn records! I can move the furniture around, if need be, and get my own suitcase into my car. And I'm only a tiny bit along on the whole weight-lifting thing. In the ~12 years since the record box incident I've gained ~30 lbs but this is a GOOD thing. More strength = more autonomy, IMHO, because I don't have to always make plans through the prism of having someone else around to help me lift things/defend myself.
Learning finally that my body CAN do stuff puts a whole new spin on fashion magazines. I was flipping through one today while getting my hair cut, full of lithe, lissome little things, and my first thoughts were "gee, I bet they don't look all that great naked", followed by "They probably can't even take out their own garbage". This is not a slam on skinny girls or those who love them, but it is a slam on the idea that every woman everywhere should torment themselves and sacrifice physical strength in the name of meeting an idealized body type.
Brutal Women also has a few lengthy posts up about writing and feminism, but I don't have time to read just now. Check 'em out if you do.
Back in college I was slimmer but was utterly pathetic with any kind of physical effort. I remember stressing that I couldn't lift my own suitcase, record box, computer monitor etc. without extreme effort and/or pain. I remember one time carrying a box of records up 4 flights of stairs (no elevator in that building) to the college radio station and practically being in tears when I got there, partly out of embarassment and partly out of the sheer physical effort.
Now I can lift those damn records! I can move the furniture around, if need be, and get my own suitcase into my car. And I'm only a tiny bit along on the whole weight-lifting thing. In the ~12 years since the record box incident I've gained ~30 lbs but this is a GOOD thing. More strength = more autonomy, IMHO, because I don't have to always make plans through the prism of having someone else around to help me lift things/defend myself.
Learning finally that my body CAN do stuff puts a whole new spin on fashion magazines. I was flipping through one today while getting my hair cut, full of lithe, lissome little things, and my first thoughts were "gee, I bet they don't look all that great naked", followed by "They probably can't even take out their own garbage". This is not a slam on skinny girls or those who love them, but it is a slam on the idea that every woman everywhere should torment themselves and sacrifice physical strength in the name of meeting an idealized body type.
Brutal Women also has a few lengthy posts up about writing and feminism, but I don't have time to read just now. Check 'em out if you do.
