The Body Image Site for Every Body
By Maddie Ruud Eating disorders are everywhere, and finally, people are beginning to realize it. Unfortunately, with the increased awareness has come a rash of myths, both about the disorders themselves and the people who suffer. Since food and body are already weighted subjects (excuse the pun!) in Western society, it can be … [Read more...]
By Sayantani DasGupta I recently finished Paula Yoo's charming Good Enough, a novel about a Korean American teen violinist whose life of SAT prep tests, HarvardYalePrinceton applications, All-State violin rehearsals, and Korean church youth group is disrupted by the arrival of a Cute Trumpet Guy in her life. Written in an … [Read more...]
by Maddie Ruud “Feminism” and “fashion”—two words one rarely hears together. In fact, for many feminists, fashion is the new “f word,” a dirty, two-syllable utterance to be spat out with contempt and disgust. And, let’s face it, fashion doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to liberating and … [Read more...]
By Maddie Ruud Good Intentions You just found out that your loved one has an eating disorder. Or perhaps an acquaintance revealed their struggle during the course of a conversation. You want to be understanding. You want to help in any way you can. You want to encourage, affirm, support, validate. But what you thought were kind … [Read more...]
By Sayantani DasGupta Images matter. They matter a lot. Images on magazine and book covers not only reflect what we, as a society, think is beautiful, but they seep into our individual and collective consciousness – urging us to emulate those thinner, younger, taller, richer and yes, whiter images. Race is a critical part … [Read more...]
By Ashley-Michelle Papon On Monday, Feb. 6, five dozen women flooded Facebook's Menlo Park offices in California, challenging the social networking giant's habit of removing photos depicting breastfeeding. In addition to waving banners informing the crowd that “Breastfeeding is NOT obscene,” and exchanging peer support, … [Read more...]
By Crystal Smith As most readers may know, there has been a huge uproar over LEGO’s newest product line, LEGO Friends. (Google it. You can’t miss it.) Regular readers [at The Achilles Effect] might also know that LEGO has been one of my favorite targets for a while now. Like the people protesting the LEGO Friends line, I … [Read more...]
By Sayantani DasGupta What if everyone was beautiful? No, I don’t mean inner beauty, prettiness that shines from the inside out. I mean, wide eyes, perfect noses, proportionate bodies, and symmetrical faces. The same approximate height, weight, skin color? Could making everyone look the same even the social and economic … [Read more...]
By Therese Shechter A few months ago at a dinner party, the topic of hymens came up (don’t all your dinner parties go like this?) and how on rare occasions the membrane is completely sealed and has to be surgically opened. One of the men there wondered how the condition could go unnoticed, seeing as it would block the … [Read more...]
By Sayantani DasGupta If you have been, say, living in outer space, in some kind of a no-media cult, or simply in possession of particularly discriminating taste, and have not seen the Twilight films, or read Stephanie Meyer’s books, then, before you read this post, I respectfully send you to these superlative examples of … [Read more...]
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