On manifestos & relative values. (less evasively: body image.)

[pookizegreat]

So, amor_remanet made this great post on body image, mostly tied in to her own struggles but with a cameo from a manifesto I posted on Tumblr a while ago in response to a Twitter conversation... the background can be read there. And at the time of the first conversation (Twitter, manifesto, rebuttal & all), she, luthienofold and I had some conversation via e-mail about

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♥

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I read your friend Kassie's entry too and I'm getting teary-eyed and inarticulate, bah. I wish it were easier for us to be generous with ourselves. I really admire your confidence.

[amor_remanet]

♥ So, like. Drive-by commenter really hoping she doesn't come off as creepy here, but I agree with you. So much. I wish my baby sister would actually take care of herself, instead of hanging out with friends who encourage her bad habits because they're trendy. I wish my mom wouldn't drive herself up the wall because she feels like she's not accomplishing anything without hurting herself. I wish posts like mine and Igpy's were pointless and didn't need to be made. But until that happens, it meant a lot to me that you read and got teary-eyed. ♥

[pookizegreat]

I adore you. & I'm glad our posts affected you. BE GENEROUS WITH YOURSELF, LADY.

[pookizegreat]

1. I definitely know that feeling. I think that's part of the reason why this isn't something where one person makes a post and the issue's been talked about; no matter how many conversations we have about this, no matter how many times we're complimented or have great hair days or tell ourselves those standards aren't realistic, that idea that we have to be someone else's version of perfect is pretty much always going to be there.
2. I think you're particularly good looking now.

[amor_remanet]

Okay so. I'm going to bother you on AIM after I heat up some dinner (or well, you pinged me first, so I will bother you more coherently after I do the dinner thing) and put on some damn cartoons because Supernatural is really downbeat right now and I dnw. But I want to say: I fucking love this post. And I fucking love you. And I'm not going to fucking lie and say that I'm completely immune to feeling all "what the hell, Igpy's thin and gorgeous, what does she know" because I totally have before. (Not lately, but I have.) I've felt that for you, and for my friends from high school (especially since the two who usually pep-talked me were skinny skinny and v pretty), and even for my best friend, although not lately and not really much at all since one of our talks in my sophomore year about how much she's hated her body before and how much crap she's caught for being perceived as either "too thin" or not thin enough. (For some visuals: this is who I talk about all the time, my better half, the Sam to my Dean, the biggest reason I stayed

[pookizegreat]

(I think her boyfriend is really unattractive. To er. Go against the themes of this post. But. I would pick her in a hot second! Then again I prefer women. Er.)

Mmmmm. Kassie, let's get physical. By which I mean. THANK YOU. ♥

[amor_remanet]

(I think he's unattractive AND a creep, so. Right there with you. His only saving grace is that he knows how much I love her and realizes that if he fucks up and she won't call him on it, I will. With my foot and various tender parts of his body.)

I AM IN. YOU KNOW WHERE TO FIND ME. ♥

[pookizegreat]

Good.

[amor_remanet]

Seconded & back at you too, Miz Chel. ♥

[ghostwalker]

This is a brilliant post, dear. These thoughts you have here are what i were trying to touch on back when I made a mini.rant about "skinny jeans" for children (when soemone else commented that the name referred to the fit. I realised that, but young kids don't, & how damaging can that be for a young childe? Etc. & so on). The world would be a much better place if people were measured by the things they do, and the beautie the feel & create & truly are, & not by soemone else's ideals of what constitutes happiness & what "beautiful" should be, outwardly.

*hugs&love*

[pookizegreat]

Thank you, Spooky. Your kids are ridiculously lucky to have a father who engages with these messages so actively. It doesn't totally negate the mad pressures we're put under, but it definitely helps a lot to have parents who don't swallow these lies.