Join me for Wide Girl Summer

Did I mention this yet?

My trainer, Emily, and I have deemed this season Wide Girl Summer.

I hope you'll join us in saying YES to strength, food, and pleasure

and NO to all traps 

this white dominant, ableist patriarchy has set for us.

Those traps are literally

 L I T E R A L L Y

 designed to keep us small.

 And they are everywhere.

 We are constantly navigating:

 * false equations between weight and health.

 * computer-generated, narrowly-conceived beauty ideals.

 * a veeerrrry convenient cultural aversion to women's aging bodies, because just as we get more powerful and have greater earning potential, just as we free ourselves to give fewer and fewer fucks, we encounter more and more messages about how unattractive we are.

Fuck all that. 

*

Also.

Did you gain weight during pandemictimes?

Are you a mammal?

If you answered YES to both questions above, please consider:

Our bodies just experienced multiple horrors unfolding. Covid. Trump. Chauvin. Supply chain interruptions. Wildfires. Climate change. Economic uncertainty. Plus whatever crises you've been managing as a result.

Did your body want an extra bit of insulation for all that?

Mine too.

Let's not blame them.

*

So: Wide Girl Summer.

We practice taking up more space.

We eat well and gratefully.

We dress to feel free, and if this means wearing larger sizes, FINE.

We expand our concept of health and beauty.

We remember who benefits when we keep that concept narrow.

We tend to our pains and troubles with tenderness.

The only weight we care about

is how much we can lift with integrity.

Join me?

PS: Lest you think I'm writing this from a place of utter freedom from body shame, please know: this week, I ordered and then promptly returned a dozen bathing suits. I'm right here with you, and wrote this for all of us. XXXOOO

PPS: Did you watch that beauty ideals video above, tho? There are definitely even more identities to celebrate, but it's a good start.