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SkulduggeryGOLD Member
Pirate Pixie Crew Captain
8,428 posts
Location: Wales


Posted:
I've been looking into "body image" and how it affects our happiness. I've noticed more and more that people have an unrealistic view of their bodies. They believe themselves to be, too fat, too tall, too short, too old, too ugly...etc.

Without doing extensive scientific research I can't really conclusively say why this is, but I do believe it has to do with the way we are constantly bombarded with images of stick thin, blemish free, buffed and polished young men and women. Most of these images have been touched up or sculpted on a computer and are not the reality of what people actually look like. I know that's a bit of an over simplification of the issue, but stay with me I'm getting to the point of this post.

I would like to counter these unreal images we are given everyday. I'm thinking of starting a project to make up a book of nudes, of real people. All shapes, ages and sizes. I want to show that in reality everyone has a beautiful body. I want to show people that all shapes and sizes are the way we are meant to be.

Isn't it time we stopped this ridiculous notion that everyone should be young, stick thin and tall or they are ugly? Why do we allow ourselves to beat ourselves up over our body shapes?

I want to do something to promote a better healthier population that don't have self loathing issues due to trying to live up to some lunatic unreal unattainable body image.

Do you think I'd be wasting my time? Are the Young, skinny image too deeply ingrained for anyone to make a difference?

Feed me Chocolate!!! Feed me NOW!


Rouge DragonBRONZE Member
Insert Champagne Here
13,215 posts
Location: without class distinction, Australia


Posted:
I think it's a fantastic idea, and I don't know about in the UK, but such things are a lot better here than they used to be. For example, some of the fashion magazines have models up to size 14 for certain things. And while that's only the tip of the ice-berg, it's better than 100% size 8s it used to be.

actually, i remember an issue of Cosmo or Cleo that had a section on every-day nudes both male and female. Ranging from barely even size 6 to size 20 for the women. E-Cup breasts and AAA cup breasts. And buffed, toned men, beer gut men, hairy men, non hair men.

I hope that by the time I have kids body image has improved, but I unfortunately don't see it getting that much better.

i would have changed ***** to phallus, and claire to petey Petey

Rougie: but that's what I'm doing here
Arnwyn: what letting me adjust myself in your room?..don't you dare quote that on HoP...


Pink...?BRONZE Member
Mistress of Pink...Multicoloured
6,140 posts
Location: Over There, United Kingdom


Posted:
Skully - Have you seen the Dove adverts?

They basically say the same thing, and use real women with real bodies.

Go to for their website:

https://www.campaignforrealbeauty.com/

Never pick up a duck in a dungeon...


SkulduggeryGOLD Member
Pirate Pixie Crew Captain
8,428 posts
Location: Wales


Posted:
Yes Pink...? I've seen those ads and I think they are wonderful. We need more like them. We need to celebrate the differences between each one of us rather than try so hard to all conform to an unreal body image that is regulally promoted.

I was thinking along the lines of taking everyday people off the street and just photographing them nude. I want to show people that whoever they are whatever shape they are they look beautiful. I'm not the greatest photographer in the world but I can have classes to help me with that or even hire a photographer if needs be.

Before we get all the giggling pointing crowd in here. I'm not suggesting anything sexual, just naked. Nude does not have to be rude wink

Feed me Chocolate!!! Feed me NOW!


Gayle......!SILVER Member
Pooh-Bah
2,444 posts
Location: Bristol !!!!!!, United Kingdom


Posted:
I for one would love to live in a world where i was "normal" size. I would love to go into any shop and find my size on the hangers. I would love "trendy" clothes manufacteurs to make clothes that fit me.

I think the Dove campaign is brilliant. These are real woman and they are beautiful.

What sort of project are you thinking of? website, book, article?? I think more and more is being done to change the mass marketing of the "size 8", and to promote "healthy" shaped bodies as opposed to "ill" bodies. Can you find a niche that hasn't already been covered?

Gayle.....!


Gayle......!SILVER Member
Pooh-Bah
2,444 posts
Location: Bristol !!!!!!, United Kingdom


Posted:
ahhh, too late. OK, change the bottom of my post. What are you going to do with the photos?

Gayle.....!


SkulduggeryGOLD Member
Pirate Pixie Crew Captain
8,428 posts
Location: Wales


Posted:
I thought maybe an exibition of the photos followed by coffee table book. I think that each photo should be accompanied with a short discription of who the person in the photo is.... so far I haven't got much futher than that. I just wondered if people thought it would make any difference to how anybody felt about their body image.

Feed me Chocolate!!! Feed me NOW!


MedusaSILVER Member
veteran
1,433 posts
Location: 8 days at Cloudbreak, 6 in Perth, Australia


Posted:
I think everyone is beautiful not matter what size or shape....

If you don't like the magazines then don't buy them....that is the only way you will ever get them to change is if people started practicing what they preach and boycotting the magazines and newspaper that tend to bring this kind of discussion into the mix everytime.

The amount of time I have heard people (mostly woman I hate to say) bitching about the young, skinny, tall models in the magazines but yet they continue to buy it month after month.

Why???? The more people buy it the more they will publish it.

Gayle......!SILVER Member
Pooh-Bah
2,444 posts
Location: Bristol !!!!!!, United Kingdom


Posted:
The only thing i would be worried about is the magazines and the media that is out there which force the opposite. i mean, you only have to wander into a newsagent and you're faced with which celebrity has lost weight, slimming ads, which celebrity has put on weight, comestic procedure ads...I do think the world is slowly changing for the positive but at the moment it seems we are still being brainwashed into being size 8.

I was appalled to see the latest copy of heat! on sale. It's cover page is all about who has lost weight or gained it over xmas. To be honest, who cares! but there are people that do.

I like the idea of what you're thinking about. I like the idea of an exibition. I'm not sure how it would change my perception of my body image or whether i'm too programmed into the message the media and the stockists of clothes shops give out.

Gayle.....!


jeff(fake)Scientist of Fortune
1,189 posts
Location: Edinburgh


Posted:
One time last year I flipped through one of those paphlets given to young people with mental health problem. On one page they were railing against the media obbsession with fit, attractive young men and women which makes so many people feel inadequate. Then I turned the page and the next article was plastered with pictures of fit, attractive young men and women.

Talk about disjointed thinking! angry

According to Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle of Quantum Dynamics, we may already be making love right now...


NYCNYC
9,232 posts
Location: NYC, NY, USA


Posted:
I think this sounds familiar.

I'd do some research because I'm fairly certain "showing the average human body as it really is" is a common photographic theme.

I certainly can't search it now as I'm at work. ubbangel

Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]


jeff(fake)Scientist of Fortune
1,189 posts
Location: Edinburgh


Posted:
I'm sure the world 'photographic' there is a typo... wink

According to Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle of Quantum Dynamics, we may already be making love right now...


SkulduggeryGOLD Member
Pirate Pixie Crew Captain
8,428 posts
Location: Wales


Posted:
Yeah I guess so, NYC.

One of the main reasons I've been thinking about this is a TV program that's on in the day time here called "Make me perfect". The program has upset me hugely. They have taken a group of women, that are so upset with their own body image that they rarely go out, and given them extreme make overs that involve cosmetic surgery, a bit of psycho therapy and new clothes, make up and hair cut. Most of these women had very little wrong with them except this air of sadness about them that seemed to be based in low self esteem. None of these women in my opinion were ugly.

I truely don't think putting them through several bouts of major surgery, slicing bits of their body off and reshaping their noses etc, is the solution. Most of the women at the end of the process came out smiling and claiming they felt beautiful and wonderful. I would love to see the interviews with these women 5 years on and see if they still felt the same.

I think if they had gone just down the psycho therapy road first, and tried to find out why these women felt to bad about how they looked, they would find that the issues where far bigger than just about looks and that despising their looks were just the way these women dealt with traumas from their past.

I want to try to stop people feeling that how they look is the answer to everything. I want them to know that you can have any body shape, be of any age and still be beautiful and that the external part of you has very little to do with true beauty. The beauty comes from who you are and the body is just the container of that beauty, whatever shape it is. So if you are 3 ft tall with one leg longer than the other you can still be beautiful. The container looks beautiful if it contains beauty....... Hmmm not putting this very well am I. Bah.... me and text are not made for each other ubblol

Feed me Chocolate!!! Feed me NOW!


Frederick the RecklessBRONZE Member
Troupe Leader and founder, Fire and Steel
241 posts
Location: Oregon, USA


Posted:
my girlfriend is starting work on creating a website with artistic nudes and semi-nudes. she's 299 pounds. she's also absolutely beautiful. ubblove and mine. hug for those who wonder what my idea of beauty is, i have a picture of her and i at a karaoke bar in my gallery.

in other words, i don't think you'd be wasting your time. good luck with your book, skulduggery! beerchug

Frederick the Reckless,
Troupe Leader,
Fire and Steel


RoziSILVER Member
100 characters max...
2,996 posts
Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia


Posted:
Slightly off the wall idea, but how about exploring different body ideals in different communities. For example, in Life drawing women who are really curvy are highly praised.

Find an area that has some very unique values about body type, and explore it.

I have memories of one fantastic exhibition where a photographer drew parallels between body builders and drag queens (both very conscious of body, both makeup and fake tan wearing, both taking many hours to get ready, but one very "masculine" and the other viewed as very "feminine").

It was a day for screaming at inanimate objects.

What this calls for is a special mix of psychology and extreme violence...


DominoSILVER Member
UnNatural Scientist - Currently working on a Breville-legged monkey
757 posts
Location: Bath Uni or Shrewsbury, UK


Posted:

Non-Https Image Link



Non-Https Image Link



Non-Https Image Link


All spoof ads from adbusters, all made me smile

Give me a lever long enough and a place to stand and I can beat the world into submission.


GeoffonTour04SILVER Member
enthusiast
360 posts
Location: Oxford, United Kingdom


Posted:
I agree with you on most counts, but personally I prefer having a negative opinion of myself, it keeps my ego in check & means I make a tit of myself less smile

_Aimée_SILVER Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
4,172 posts
Location: Hastings, United Kingdom


Posted:
I think it sounds like a lovely idea smile
The same as Gayle I wish I could go into any high street shops and find clothes that fit me..
I wouldn't say I have low self confidance. In fact it dosn't bother me much, expect when I'm with guys. I automatically think they're with me because I got a bit o' junk in the trunk..which dosn't bother me. Just wish I had the mind set to think that they're with me because of me.

I'd love to be a part of it if I ever got the confidance to get my kit of in front of a camera ubblol

_Clare_BRONZE Member
Still wiggling
5,967 posts
Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland (UK)


Posted:
biggrin

Woohoo for Skully, because she rocks and is utterly beautiful hug

Getting to the other side smile


Narr(*) (*) .. for the gnor ;)
2,568 posts
Location: sitting on the step


Posted:
i have had an idea for something similar for some time now skully, i say just go for it biggrin

oh and try het your hands on this book, i found it in my local library Bailey's Democracy
as most will know amazing photographer and the book contains the most stunning nude photos i have ever seen.

ps i was pondering over that make me perfect programme this mornign whilst eating my rice crispies ... there seems to be alot of those kind of programmes on at the mo .. i say hurrah for trinny and suzannah smile wink as my grandad said work with what you have and make the most of your best bits smile

she who sees from up high smiles

Patrick badger king: *they better hope there's never a jihad on stupidity*


LurchBRONZE Member
old hand
929 posts
Location: Oregon, USA


Posted:
I don't know, the reasoning behind why people don't approve of their self image is up for debate IMHO. I don't think it's because of the images we see up everyday surrounding us. I've grown accustomed to ignoring those for the most part. Sure they're pretty to look at, but it's not reality. The same way most people don't read the advertisements and billboards lining the roads, it's so common it's just average, and thus boring.

I think more of the issue of self image is self mentality. As an artist I have a horrible habbit of looking at my work and only seeing the faults. That carries through into nearly everything else in the world in my head as well, but it's far more common than people think. I look at my work, and all my attention is drawn to the 10% or so that I'm not feeling happy with and detract from the whole. Yet I know that other people see the same piece and don't even notice the negatives, and only focus on the 90% of positives. I think it's the same way with our bodies. If there is something about me that I don't like, thats the only thing I'm going to see, and the only thing I'm going to focus on. When that problem is fixed I'll find something else that bothers me. It's hard to step back and realize that the faults that you see, most other people will never even notice.

As for the book, it's been done many a time, but it's always good to see it done again. Nudes can be a touchy subject for some, done correctly though, I don't think theres anything more beautiful.

#homeofpoi -- irc.newnet.net Come talk to us we're bored frown

Warning: Please Do Not Jump On The Seals


GnorBRONZE Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
5,814 posts
Location: Perth, Australia


Posted:
Zuftig is a book Bill bought me celebrating curves. Lush book.

The only tricky thing may be Skully is that you are at the other end of the body spectrum and that may intimdate people in itself. If that makes sense. I gather you have copped all the other stuff with accusations of anaerexia. Im not sure that came out right. Have you a lush friend to help you?? Your lovely energy may be enough by itself though.


We have a lovely photographer freind who designs pictures for us and celebrates all our figure types. His pictures , especially of us pregnant, are an inspiration so celebrate curves



umm

Is it the Truth?
Is it Fair to all concerned?
Will it build Goodwill and Better Friendships?
Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?

Im in a lonely battle with the world with a fish to match the chip on my shoulder. Gnu in Binnu in a cnu


Frederick the RecklessBRONZE Member
Troupe Leader and founder, Fire and Steel
241 posts
Location: Oregon, USA


Posted:
i have also noticed a surge in people campaigning to tear down the social pressure to look like Barbie and Ken... to include a book in production titled "the Goddess Project." it's a photograph featuring nude women of all shapes, sizes, ages, and ethnicities... the photography is of a caliber normally reserved for Celebrity Models, and the setting is GORGEOUS-- Tryon Creek, Oregon, USA. it is also set in all seasons. true variety in the pictures i have seen so far, and i am going to be keeping my eye out for that book when it hits the stores.
Skulduggery, if you do this project, i want to know the title. i want to know what the next photograph collection i intend to buy is called.
the reason i stopped drawing portraits (which i used to be quite good at) is that people are so pressured to look "perfect." and of course "perfect" can vary from year to year. so everyone i drew was a REAL person, "imperfections" and all. but too many people would ask me to draw them a portrait of someone else, and of course the person in the picture was to be a model or celebrity who was, by society standards, perfect.
it's sad that Marilyn Monroe would have had to lose 50 pounds to be considered beautiful according to fashions today. Mae West would have had to lose 75! these women were beautiful enough then, why are they not now? HECK, Pele, one of our mods, is slightly overweight in her interview video, but she's GORGEOUS! at least to me, and those of us who realize that beauty does not necessarily come in a small package.
I say create this book, Skulduggery. put it together, get it published at all costs. i think i can say on behalf of most of the people in this thread, you've already sold several copies...

Frederick the Reckless,
Troupe Leader,
Fire and Steel


jo_rhymesSILVER Member
Momma Bear
4,525 posts
Location: Telford, Shrops, United Kingdom


Posted:
Skully thats an awesome idea.
I got bullied as a kid for being a tubster, and most women I know are obsessed with their weight. My mum has the worst outlook on herself, she thinks she's a fat old woman, but I'd love to look as gorgeous as her when I'm her age.
I'd be well up for doing your book, as long as our bits and bobs are covered up smile
My 42 year old friend and her group of friends made a nude calender of them in a forest. they're all shapes and sizes and they looked truly beautiful. biggrin

Hoppers are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.


jo_rhymesSILVER Member
Momma Bear
4,525 posts
Location: Telford, Shrops, United Kingdom


Posted:
i just found this.. web page

Hoppers are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.


PeleBRONZE Member
the henna lady
6,193 posts
Location: WNY, USA


Posted:
*Warning....suits topic and may be disturbing to the young or the judgemental....

Leonard Nimoy, yup...Mr. Spock...photographed the AMAZING women of the burlesque troupe The Fat Bottom Revue

https://www.leonardnimoyphotography.com/7body.htm

His other stuff is good too, but I think these are very artistic and poignant, and right along the lines of what you are discussing Skul.

Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir
"Oooh look! A pub!" -exclaimed after recovering from a stupid fall
"And for the decadence of art, nothing beats a roaring fire." -TMK


FireTomStargazer
6,650 posts

Posted:
Skully - this is a splendid idea and IMO no timewaster.

Pics in fashin mag's will only make one feel... discomfortable. These are pictures of 1% of the actual population and would be as if one claims a diamond to be ugly, just because it is not a flawless top wesselton quality.

One thing is that many of those models do not consider themselves as pretty anyways (see them without makeup and sometimes you'll be amazed) - everyone has to live with her/his image for the given time (mirrors are a blessing and a curse for mankind) - therefore we are used to our own image.

Something we are very used to, sometimes looses it's magic... How to revive it? Some love to fall in love after love to restore this feeling...

Love thyself as you love thy next - a hard task

----------------------------------------------
Do something today, that makes you feel good about yourself - and do it FOR yourself smile

...sing wink ubblol

the best smiles are the ones you lead to wink


missmelnewbie
1 post
Location: Sunshine Coast, QLd


Posted:
You go girl!!!! There are many of use who don't feel like we are up to those standards that magazines seem to make. I am a bubbly happy chick with a few lumps and bump and I think we are all special!

PrometheusDiamond In The Rough
459 posts
Location: Richmond, Virginia


Posted:
Written by: Frederick the Reckless

...it's sad that Marilyn Monroe would have had to lose 50 pounds to be considered beautiful according to fashions today. Mae West would have had to lose 75! these women were beautiful enough then, why are they not now? HECK, Pele, one of our mods, is slightly overweight in her interview video, but she's GORGEOUS! at least to me, and those of us who realize that beauty does not necessarily come in a small package...




This is a cultural phenomenon that varies from year to year. Ask an older man (over 40) if he remembers the Twiggy Invasion. Playboy centerfolds used to look like Marilyn Monroe. Now they look like Calista Flockhart. But consider 500 years ago the models that the masters painted. They saw the true beauty in everything and everyone. Most models back then would probably aspire to look like Marilyn these days, and that's what sad. Beauty is not an exclusively held commodity. smile

Dance like it hurts; Love like you need money; Work like someone is watching.

Never criticize someone until you've walked a mile in their shoes. That way, when you DO criticize them, you are a mile away, and you have their shoes.


GnorBRONZE Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
5,814 posts
Location: Perth, Australia


Posted:
Written by:

https://www.leonardnimoyphotography.com/7body.htm





I found these pictures lacking the flair of his others. For example the dancer ones where interestring lighting and poses we used and I felt he lost the beauty of the female body not celebrated it. It wouldnt have mattered what shape the body I wouldnt have found it appealing.

Is it the Truth?
Is it Fair to all concerned?
Will it build Goodwill and Better Friendships?
Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?

Im in a lonely battle with the world with a fish to match the chip on my shoulder. Gnu in Binnu in a cnu


PeleBRONZE Member
the henna lady
6,193 posts
Location: WNY, USA


Posted:
Written by: Frederick the Reckless


HECK, Pele, one of our mods, is slightly overweight in her interview video, but she's GORGEOUS! at least to me, and those of us who realize that beauty does not necessarily come in a small package.





redface thank you. redface smile

Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir
"Oooh look! A pub!" -exclaimed after recovering from a stupid fall
"And for the decadence of art, nothing beats a roaring fire." -TMK


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