body image

I can’t help but feel that a part of me will always think skinnier is “better” because of the environment I grew up in. However, by appreciating the American take on body image, I’ve learned to believe that all bodies are beautiful and we should never dictate our worth based on the number on a scale.

When we touch fingers, I watch my reflection consumed by you a little more each day. You own my happiness, dictate my melancholy, rewarding me when I shave myself away. 

I won’t go back to him, but I’ll keep his hoodie if I can’t get rid of it yet. He taught me a lot about beauty, it’ll take time to forget

Establishing a positive relationship with food and creating a routine around grocery shopping has allowed me to apply that same way of thinking into other aspects of my life. Instead of second guessing every decision I make based on others’ opinions, I remind myself that I know myself better than anyone else, therefore I’m equipped to make the choices that are best for me. 

Trace me / I am a silhouette / Erase my coloring / I am a b&w sketch. 

Body image issues run rampant in queer men because, unlike their straight male counterparts, queer men experience the male gaze with a new level of intensity — they are both the subjects and the observers.

With summer around the corner, talks of a “summer body” are starting up again. The summer body ideal usually means being super fit, tan and virtually blemishless, but the reality is that we don't always look or feel that way, come summer. While summer can provide a great incentive to get outside and become healthier, it also idealizes a really specific body type. As everyone's lifestyle and routines have changed due to the pandemic, it’s time to move on from the summer body ideal and instead start accepting the realistic shapes and textures of our “quarantine body.”

During the chaotic and uncertain times we live in today, we need to not only check in on our friends but on ourselves as well.

The popular hashtag #COVID15, a play on the freshman 15, can be found in thousands of tweets, primarily from women, making self-deprecating jokes at the expense of their bodies.

In the future, I will continue writing in order to inspire myself and others. Writing about my curves is still hard at times because I have to expose the parts of my body that I have spent most of my life hating, but overall, I love it.