Body image...

Take a squiz at my latest cover. It’s book one in The Goddess Grind series with Total-E-Bound. Why is it called The Goddess Grind? It is a four part series that revolves around four friends – ordinary, everyday women. They have jobs and they work hard. They are average women with everyday issues who get swept off their feet by their heroes in the wildest ways. I got an interesting reaction from friends that I showed the cover to. Overwhelmingly women in both the US and Oz liked the fact that the woman on the front did not have the standard perky breasts. Her breasts are perceived as real and therefore a good image for a book cover. That started us on a talk about body image and perception.

I will admit I have body issues. I stood in front of a mirror in a fitting room recently and made a sacred vow that no one would ever see me naked again. I know it’s a crazy vow but it is one I plan to stick to until I find a sufficient, glorious, hot male reason not to then I will throw that vow to the wind. I am not perfect nor do I want to be and I do not expect a lover to be either. However every so often even I, who is incredibly confident in who I am, look at my flabby thighs and think oh yuck! And this is crazy as I refuse to judge anyone on their looks so why do I do it to myself? I believe there is no perfect woman or perfect man. I don’t believe one skin colour is better than another. Nor do I agree with the view that everyone of a certain height must be of a certain weight otherwise they are deemed obese. I don’t like that the media glamorizes blonde air heads or persists in air brushing out wrinkles or shaving away lumps and bumps on the photograph of a model just because that model is not perfect. Who needs perfection? What we need are real people with real thoughts and feelings. We love with our heart and mind and not our eyes alone.

So I am going to make a concerted effort not to scream if I catch a glance at my cellulite thighs or flabby arse in the mirror. Wrinkles I have and I could care less about. Scars I have but I wear them as a badge of experience. My weight fluctuates as does the smoothness of my skin. But after all I am woman, I am real and I am never going to be perfect. So why drive myself crazy?

I asked some smart women I know what they thought about body image:-
My body is something that I live in. It can be a mansion, a teepee, or even a shack. How the world perceives my body is how I perceive it. Just like a house, if I keep it pretty and in good repair it is admired. If I let it run down people cluck their tongues. My body is just like that.
www.charleneleatherman.blogspot.com

Body image is what you make of it. You can either succumb to what society thinks you ought to look like or take control of your self-worth. It's a choice we make everyday when we look in the mirror. So it's up to you. Do you prefer to feel worthless or like you've got a secret bit of sexy waiting to get out? www.kkirch.blogspot.com

Ultimately, the body is the housing for our heart and soul. What the house looks like has no bearing on what it shelters. Some of the plainest houses shelter some of the most beautiful hearts and souls. If I had to choose, I would choose to have internal beauty over external beauty. www.annycook.blogspot.com

Our society is so convinced that thin is perfect that even if you work out two hours a day and eat nothing but salads, people think you’re lazy and stupid if you’re two pounds overweight. And the USDA has admitted to artificially adjusting their standards so that many healthy people are now officially classed as overweight. Humans are not meant to look identical and people should get over it! www.cindyspencerpape.com

A reminder that our Emmeline, twin, peeler, zucchini missile sage will be back again Monday. If you missed the last episode go immediately to www.annycook.blogsplot.com and laugh your socks off. On Monday wake up bright and early and go to www.kellykirch.blogspot.com and see what happens next.

Go ahead: Live with abandon. Be outrageous at any age. What are you saving your best self for?
www.freewebs.com/janetdavies