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The Woman In The Shadows
When I was in elementary school, she told me I was fat. When I was in middle school, she told me I wasn’t smart. When I was in high school, she told me there was only one thing I was good at, and that was being onstage, pretending to be someone else. She’s cruel. She’s been with me so long; I didn’t acknowledge her until two years ago when I was filling in for a high school teacher. I had asked the students to write a letter to their younger selves. It turned out to be an enlightening lesson not only for the students but for me. When I read…
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From Chub Chubs to Daddy Long Legs
I barely had a chance to form an opinion about my body before one was imposed on me. When you understand where your beliefs come from only then can you change them. The Very Beginning Fat! was bad. Very bad. This was the message I received before elementary school. There were several significant events from those early years that helped shape my view of my body and expectations of being female. After all, it really was okay for men to be overweight. They didn’t go on diets. It was the women who had to be slim. Men never complained about their bodies–only women did. But why? Was it because they felt…
