body
Feminism demands a future free of fat shaming, body obsession and the male gaze.
Selfies, Fat, Sweat and Tears
[Please excuse the number of selfies in this — I’m trying to demonstrate a point] When I turned 30 something crazy happened — my twenties had been wrought with insecurities surrounding how I looked, my teens even more so but suddenly I didn’t really care anymore. In fact, when I looked back on my twenties and earlier, from my thirties I wondered why I was bothered at all — I wasn’t half as bad as I was led to believe, or more importantly, had come to believe. In fairness, I didn’t regularly start wearing make-up till I was 25 and had no actual skin routine till I was even older than that. When I look back though, I can see how outside influences had an impact on me when I was gullible and naïve and how I gave other peoples’ opinions much more value than they were worth. And now I dress whatever way I want, covered in tattoos and giving way less of I shit about it… or so I thought…
By Caroline Egan5 years ago in Viva
A Nurse Called Me "Heavy" During My Pap Smear Exam
Yes, ladies, you read the title of this article correctly. (I say ladies because I doubt any guys will read this because "Ew!" right?) Two days ago I went in for a routine pap smear test. And while spread eagle with the speculum inside me, the nurse on the side of me handing the doctor the swabs, made a comment about me being "heavy".
By Lizzy Heartwood5 years ago in Viva
I am naked
There is a mirror in front of me. I have been standing here for hours, naked and alone. The house is empty, everybody is at work and I am home. I am fat. I am unemployed. Even though it’s daytime it's still incredibly dark with the curtains closed and so every light in every room is on and I am standing in the hallway in the cold. Even though the windows are shut, I feel like I'm freezing, there is a vicious frost at my toes. February sends chills up my fingertips and into my shoulders, there are goose bumps cascading across the very large mass that is my upper arm on either side of my body. A fit of shivers pass through me and when it is over I have a heightened consciousness of the thing I am contemplating in the mirror.
By Sharla Bean5 years ago in Viva
Probiotics: Turns out, vaginas are complicated. And brilliant.
"The vagina is a self-cleaning oven. Just leave it alone." Sounds familiar, right? I can still hear the words of my sweet-spoken professor, dropping this pearl on our women's health class, providing a valuable, yet simple, principle with which to guide our patient care. As NP students, we were taught to respect the body's ability to keep the vaginal peace. If a problem arose, we were trained to identify the condition, treat as necessary, and then advise the patient to resume leaving her vagina the heck alone. Don't flush it, scrub it, powder or perfume it. And the whole "yogurt-a-day-keeps-the-gyno-away" thing? Science wasn't supporting this, either. Gynecology professionals and governing health organizations had traditionally stood by the idea that there was no consistent evidence supporting oral probiotic efficacy for maintaining vaginal health and balance.
By Stephanie Williams5 years ago in Viva
I am loving her
Why am I disliking the woman in the mirror? There is absolutely no reason why I should. However, I see her flabby underarm and the cellulite on her stomach, the oversized love handles, and that flab in her abdomen above her c-section and they disgust me. Years ago, she was somewhat fit, and I was a bit more comfortable with her. I say "a bit" because I admit that I still saw her many body imperfections: she still needed some tighter abs, glutes, and legs to be attractive.
By Jara Rios Rodriguez5 years ago in Viva
Knix the Life-altering Undies
I remember the moment I discovered Knix. I was scrolling Facebook and saw this babelicious woman, Sarah Nicole Landry of the Birds Papaya. Her face was glowy, and she had perfectly toned blonde hair (which I promptly screenshot and sent to my stylist). But wait. I kept scrolling and GASP. There they were, as familiar as my own skin, a precious tummy of a mama with stretch marks. I couldn't believe my eyes! It was the first time I had ever seen advertising with a body that somewhat represented mine or anyone else I knew.
By Brittany Kolba5 years ago in Viva
In Pursuit of the Designer Vagina
Designer vagina – how many of you have not heard of this rather sensational label on a woman’s genitals? What shocked you more: the label itself or that women and girls, purportedly as young as nine, had expressed keen interest in having the inner and outer folds of their vagina being surgically altered?
By Josephine Crispin5 years ago in Viva
