Female body image. Not a simple subject, is it.
We carry our personal histories, our inherited traits, and we’re bombarded by conflicting messages from the time we’re little girls. So how do we make sense of it? Do we, eventually?
I have questions as I continue to find my way to my own answers. But I would like to ask you about your experience as well.
Directly.
Do you believe that a woman’s warmth and beauty truly translates on the flat screen or glossy page – at any age?
What about a mature woman? Must we go beyond the visual to impart the aura of womanliness through actual presence? Do our scents, our gestures, the nuanced tone of voice, the touch of a hand all add dimension that conveys the depth of our sex – and sexiness?
I am intrigued by the concept of what we communicate and how we do so, through our female bodies and our body language.
If you are a woman who is potentially interested in sharing your thoughts in a related project on female body image, would you consider getting in touch? You may use the contact email on my About page, and I will reply.
Yes, I have something specific in mind, and yes, I am particularly interested in hearing from women in their 40s, 50s, and 60s, but I would be happy to hear from others as well, both younger and older.
Get Naked!
As for the discussion of getting naked which took place yesterday – do remember that we distort what we see – for better or worse. And I have yet to meet a woman who doesn’t distort for the worse, at least during some period in her life.
All the more reason that the photographer’s keen eye may offer insights we wouldn’t otherwise see. Yet I am of the belief that even a picture is only a piece of the puzzle, and it may not always be worth a thousand words.
So did you peek at yourself in front of the mirror today? Any revelations?
Arts, Parts, and Smarts
In the meantime, I am curious if you have favorite features, and if so, what they are and how they’ve changed with the years, as you have changed. And yes, feel free to include your fine imagination or sense of humor!
Perhaps you always considered your hands to be graceful, and they’re aging beautifully. Or your elegant neck, your luscious hair, your curvaceous ankles, your perky breasts, your rounded hips, your luxurious ass, your throaty voice, or your impeccably arching eyebrows!
Do you find that when you are photographed, you tilt your head a certain way or favor a view you think is more flattering?
- Have you ever had an artistic portrait done – a drawing or painting – rather than a photograph? Was it in the nude or partially nude? How did it feel? What did you think?
- Did you find that experience of sitting and the final result which may have been highly interpretive, to be very different from a candid or posed photograph?
- Have you had an artistic portrait shot, photographically – for yourself or someone you love? How did that feel, and what did you think?
As for that great feature that you still delight in, that allows you to feel feminine, to feel powerful, to feel graceful – or all of the above – what might it be? (I admit – I have cute feet! And I love the way I move.)
I hope to hear from you, and look forward to delicious discoveries in the process.
© D. A. Wolf
Little parts that seem faithful to my physical presence: Very good hair that is now nearly blonde, which how many redheads “grey.” I still have a very nice bosom, but I can see from my family that this is simply genetics from my mom, her sisters, my maternal grandmother and her many sisters.
Waist 🙁 is this a thing or an absence? Both. Funny though, as this makes clothing choices hard. Anyway, Pillsbury doughgirl, with some handles….no matter WHAT I DO!
I do not mind my wrinkles. I have always been shy of my shark white skin and scads of freckles, but this does help with a penumbra of youth. Also, now-a-days, freckles and reddish hair are in the pantheon of beauty possibles. When I was growing up, not so much. I am a Midge, not a Barbie. But now, we have many lovely gingers ladies in the spot light. That some are bottle-reds, well, cracks me up.
Here is a poem about aging skin that can remain beautiful in our eyes.
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/175784
Listen to the audio also, but here is the text:
Queen-Anne’s Lace
by William Carlos Williams
Her body is not so white as
anemony petals nor so smooth—nor
so remote a thing. It is a field
of the wild carrot taking
the field by force; the grass
does not raise above it.
Here is no question of whiteness,
white as can be, with a purple mole
at the center of each flower.
Each flower is a hand’s span
of her whiteness. Wherever
his hand has lain there is
a tiny purple blemish. Each part
is a blossom under his touch
to which the fibres of her being
stem one by one, each to its end,
until the whole field is a
white desire, empty, a single stem,
a cluster, flower by flower,
a pious wish to whiteness gone over—
or nothing.
William Carlos Williams, “Queen-Anne’s Lace” from The Collected Poems of William Carlos Williams, Volume I, 1909-1939, edited by Christopher MacGowan. Copyright 1938, 1944, 1945 by William Carlos Williams. Reprinted with the permission of New Directions Publishing Corporation.
Source: The Collected Poems: Volume I 1909-1939 (New Directions Publishing Corporation, 1938)
Thank you for this lovely poem, NoName. And for sharing some of your most beautiful assets with us.
Ah yes, the case of the Disappearing Waist… Why don’t fashion designers accommodate this? We’re a HUGE (no pun intended) market???
Wow. Fabulous questions. Ironically perhaps, the most comfortable I’ve been naked has been when my body is least like those I see in magazines: while pregnant and now in my 40s. Skinny dipping? I’m okay with that. Okay, not in broad daylight…
Leanne – You always make me smile…
And isn’t it interesting that many women feel great (sexy?) and comfortable with their pregnant bodies? Maybe because we’re allowed to EAT without judgment, including our own? Not to mention, we feel the power and miracle of growing life, and some of the other aspects of body image pale in comparison?
Do you mean how I’ve always sucked in my gut (even when it was non-existent) every time someone would try to snap a shot of me? That’s the only thing I regularly “feature” when I’m having my picture taken. Although, I DO like how my eyes crinkle (dare I say wrinkle?) when I smile real big.
(Chuckling) yes, Jane, like that. Laugh lines. Always delightful!
The brilliant play on the UNCF’s old slogan, a waist is a terrible thing to mind says it all. The young British singer Adele is somebody that is probably under enormous conflicting pressure, to lose weight by her record execs and to maintain her weight by fans that love her the way she is. Her 2nd album, 21, is a fine piece of work; hopefully we see more from her and the pressure/temptation doesn’t get to her like it did to Amy Winehouse (her 2nd and last album Back in Black album was superb).
🙂
I think my eyes have always been my best feature. In my youth, those dating days, I lamented the fact that I had such small breasts – a gift from my mother, I believe. Then I reached the age where that mattered not at all – a good thing, because it made having a mastectomy much easier those few years ago. And my hair – thick heavy hair with a bit of a natural wave. Prior to chemo. It has never returned. But none of that matters anymore, or at least doesn’t matter a great deal. I am what I am, I am satisfied with what I am. One of the benefits of aging, I think.
I think we overlook those benefits of perspective that come with age and experience, Carol. It doesn’t mean we don’t – some of us – have regrets. But we do come to appreciate what we have, I think. And what matters.
Always happy when you stop by and comment.
(Sigh) It was a Boston summer day in 1978, out walking on my lunch break, was six months pregnant…and a guy whistled at me. I looked around and the guy waved, smiled and indicated, “Yes you…” I just smiled and kept on walking. Best I ever felt!! Now I’m 61, my dark hair is streaked with silver and my only issue is my weight, so I’ve adopted a vegan diet and have been recently juicing to improve my overall vitality.
Delighted you decided to stop by and read, and comment, @eiresicilia. That sounds like a lovely day back in ’78! (I never minded a good “wolf whistle,” myself. 😉 And are you battling weight because you don’t feel fit and well, or because you think you’re supposed to? (A personal question, I know.)
In this vein, a serious book that goes all the way: I’ll Show You Mine.
I am always conscious of myself in photographs. For some reason, I am so focused on the camera getting my best angle I forget to smile. Maybe one day, I will give myself permission to accept how I look in photographs. Very interesting topic/discussion. Although I didn’t comment on yesterday’s post, it gave me lots to think about. Thanks BLW.