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When Were We Happy?

October 19, 2013 by missmisandry Photo by Marie C.

This post consists of 8 of photos of young girls accompanied by their own words describing their relationship to their bodies. At the end of the post it states, “By 13 years-old 53% of girls say they are unhappy with their bodies. When were we happy? Marie C. photographed and interviewed 4-8 year old girls and asked them what they liked about their bodies to find out.” Essentially, these young girls will learn to be dissatisfied with their bodies in only 5 years. Our culture teaches women and girls to be forever unsatisfied with how they look, and the love and admiration they once had for their bodies will disappear.

My personal favorite quote from these little girls is “I like my body because its [sic] magic” and it breaks my heart to realize that someday she will no longer believe this about herself. This was particularly painful to read because it reminds me much of myself at her age. Although I used to believe that my body was capable of anything, and I marveled at everything it could do, I have learned to be dissatisfied with it and focus only on what it is not. My body has become a battleground of conflicting images of what society believes it should be and what it actually is, and I found this project to be especially poignant as it forced me to realize the ways in which my relationship with my body has changed as I consume ever more images of  an impossible beauty ideal.






Posted in beauty standards, culture, gender | Tagged body image, Marie C., Photography, self-esteem, Tumblr | 3 Comments



