Jezebel Express Instagram – In this age of data obsession, it’s understandable that we’ve come to view our bodies analytically & critically. In our lives, constant updates are a matter of course. Download the update. Get toned, beat wrinkles. Upgrade your phone. Crush your personal best.
We have been encouraged to believe our bodies can be optimized & improved the way we update modern technology: filter, photoshop, control alt delete. We reboot our diets the way we’d reboot a hung program. And what is plastic (or bariatric) surgery if not the literal bodily equivalent of “cut and paste?”
But our bodies— they are not modern technical wonders. They are not new & improved. They are, in fact, ancient, made of repurposed stardust & water (which we can never drink enough of, no matter how we optimize.)
I actually don’t even think the optimizing itself is an issue. Wanting improvement is normal. The problem is that “fixing” our bodies has become obligatory, and judging bodies based on how successfully they match the cultural standard du jour is the norm.
(TW: ED, self-harm, next paragraph only)
People talk to me about their bodies a lot, & one confession comes up constantly: they tell me how they have often fantasized about snipping fat or other ‘problem’ parts away with scissors to perfect their bodies. The fantasy of the optimized body is so powerful they can’t even register the horror of scissors slicing into skin.
But as we talk, it becomes apparent that what most of these people desire is simply to be treated better: to be loved more easily, to avoid cruelty. The problem is not with the bodies we fantasize about harming, but with a culture that refuses to value them. A culture that invites us to harm them.
Our human bodies do not exist to be optimized. Our bodies exist for love & joy & long naps & sunrises & swingsets, & holding toddlers on the perfect curve of our hip. Our bodies are not made to be analyzed, improved, streamlined. Our bodies do what they need to do to keep us alive. Your body is doing exactly what it is supposed to do: it’s letting you exist, imperfectly & beautifully.
If you want, you can let your body exist imperfectly & beautifully, too. ❤️ | Posted on 12/Mar/2024 05:33:35
