The Hamster Wheel of Fate
I have started this blog post three times already tonight. That’s rare for me. Usually I sit down, internal dialogue already written, and hit publish. But there is no internal anything going on right now. I want to be funny and my usual snarky self when I talk about how I may have to come [...]
The Hamster Wheel of Fate
I have started this blog post three times already tonight. That’s rare for me. Usually I sit down, internal dialogue already written, and hit publish. But there is no internal anything going on right now. I want to be funny and my usual snarky self when I talk about how I may have to come [...]
Beauty, Truth, & Inspirations
A long time ago when three people were reading Girl Body Pride (two of them being the friends writing for the site and the third being myself) I posted an invitation to the community we were working to build. I asked women to send me pictures of themselves. No perfect hair teased and tucked into [...]
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Welcome to GBP
Girl. Because no matter what decade we find ourselves in, we share a desire to heal a piece of ourselves while doing everything within our power to make sure today’s daughters grow strong in mind before all else. Body. We are at war with the reflection we see in the mirror. It’s either too full or too thin or too curvy or not curvy enough. We want more for our daughters. We also want to be able to check out at the grocery store without being bombarded by magazine headlines touting The Best Diet, How to Get a Better Body Faster, and the Six-Week-Post-Partum-Bikini-Photo-Shoot that is now par for the course for practically every celeb mom. This constant reminder that we can’t possibly be happy as we are is what we … [Read More...]
Words DO Matter
Yup, you read that right. Words do matter. It starts with one moment and gets paid forward - snowballing until tomorrow's emotional health is wrapped up in words from so many yesterdays before. My current work as a bilingual child & family therapist and mental health advocate began with kind words. My 7th grade teacher invited me to an after-school program which she had been through as a child. That first fall Thursday in 1990, a geeky pre-teen with the nerd trifecta (Bad hair, teeth and vision) walked in to the warm, welcoming room where we held our activities. The founder himself greeted me with a smile and a handshake. After asking my name, he pointed out the various activities available. It was … [Read More...]
The Hamster Wheel of Fate
I have started this blog post three times already tonight. That’s rare for me. Usually I sit down, internal dialogue already written, and hit publish. But there is no internal anything going on right now. I want to be funny and my usual snarky self when I talk about how I may have to come to terms with a fat ass, a not so defined waist, and a karmic serving of This is Your Life because it’s obvious my PCOS, the two bouts of hormonal hell I get to deal with each month, and the mirror aren’t going to make any of this as easy as I used to think. I want to make you laugh when I explain that even though I am eating like Kate Moss (minus the drug problem), I look more like Rosanne Barr in her skinny days, probably because I can’t … [Read More...]
Mommy Do I need to go on a Diet?
by Danielle Smith The question felt a bit out of left field. But as the mother of a child, of a little girl, I suppose I shouldn’t ever really be surprised, right? She is eight-going-on-twenty-eight, after all. And this growing up business is happening right in front of my eyes. This IS the child who, at 48 inches and not quite 50 pounds told me last year that she wouldn’t wear a First Communion dress with a crinoline under it because, in her words, ‘it would make me look fat’. Fat. It is a word she has never once heard me say about myself or anyone else. Not even as a joke. Not, “I’m having a fat day.” Not, “I feel fat in this.” Not, “Does my butt look fat in these jeans?” I … [Read More...]
A Case for the Red Vagina
I live in the Southern United States of America, also known as The Bible Belt. There are certain things I can count on here: mosquitoes, iced tea sweet enough to make my teeth throb, and a perpetual debate about Creationism versus Evolution. Being an educated woman with a natural fondness for math, science, and common sense in general, I have always stood firmly entrenched on the side of Darwinism. In fact, I'm not a bumper-sticker kind of gal, but if I were, I suspect I'd have one that says something like "We've got the fossils. We win." But there are times when I look at myself in the mirror and wonder, "What on Earth could be the evolutionary purpose of that?" No. I'm not referring to those two swaying … [Read More...]
Do You Believe in Mind Over Medicine? (You Should…)
Mind over Matter. Is the glass half-full or half-empty? Do you focus on the cellulite and stretch marks or celebrate your body and the blessings it has brought you? Will you look for the silver lining or just bitch about the rain pouring down from the clouds above? It isn’t easy. Too often, we overlook the fact that how our perceptions have a very real effect on our realities. If you’re convinced you can’t do something, chances are you won’t. Change the perception and shift to the positive, and suddenly we find ourselves making like The Little Engine that Could. We stop self-defeating and start self-motivating and suddenly the glass is half-full, we love ourselves as we are, and find ourselves dancing in the rain. … [Read More...]
Aftermath
I don’t like math. I don’t really like anything having to do with numbers. Maybe my dislike for the subject has something to do with the Post Vacation Equation. 5 days in Charleston + 4 days in Myrtle Beach x 3 meals a day – the cupcake I walked 12 blocks for = roughly 5 lbs. Judging by the aftermath, the vacation has taken a toll on my waistline. Was it worth it? You bet! It was a wonderful vacation. If I had the chance to give back the lobster mac and cheese, fried green tomatoes and beautifully frosted chocolate cupcake eaten at a little pink table under a chandelier, I wouldn't. I found myself contemplating numbers again while being measured in a room full of people. I'm one of … [Read More...]
Brave, Defined Waistlines, & Pauline’s Soapbox
Listed under: Good News! Disney is officially welcoming Merida from Brave as the 11th princess! Listed under: What the HELL, Mickey? Disney has also decided that Merida needed lipo, a facelift, and a “come hither” look to look just right for her coronation! For serious, people. Let’s take a look at the Before and Afters, shall we? BEFORE: Disney's Merida from Brave -- Feisty, Relatable, Inspiring. AFTER: The New Merida -- Sexed Up & Ready To Be Crowned. I’m not ready to explain to my little girl that Disney didn’t think her hero was acceptable as she is. I don’t want to tell her that a defined waistline is valued more than strength of character. I won’t tell her that sex sells more … [Read More...]
Dieting Last Resorts
I decided to go on a raw foods diet. Mostly it sounds fine to me except it virtually excludes my favorite food groups: coffee, cheese and bread. Coffee, cheese, and fresh baked sourdough are such an intrinsic part of my diet that being without them for the last ten days has rendered me no different than the average alcoholic. I acknowledge, that I am powerless in the face of warm sourdough or worse a challah bread loaf which I could eat whole without help from anyone else. My husband often uses cheese as a garnish or spice. The only time we ever seriously considered divorce was the week we were stuck at my husband’s sister’s house without access to coffee. We’ve taken uncooking classes; we’ve read books by raw … [Read More...]
On Listen To Your Mother & Sharing Our Stories
Last year I rediscovered a friend while trying to maintain my sanity. I was pregnant and on bed rest, which is just a fancy way of saying I was on Twitter a lot. That's where I reconnected with hometown friend Ann Imig. A buzz surrounded her, and this buzz was much bigger than her hilarious blog. People were talking about Listen to Your Mother, Ann's amazing tribute to mothers everywhere and the personal stories that were once limited to sharing online with links and retweets. Words on a screen have power, Ann knew. But words spoken from the heart, into a microphone, and eagerly soaked up by an audience of peers? What if she gave Motherhood a Microphone? And what if that show started a movement that only grows with each passing … [Read More...]
The Courage to be Uncool
I have never been one of the cool kids, mostly because I was never willing to adapt to the ever-evolving shapeshifter that is “coolness” at the expense of being who I really am. Yet, even now, I notice the pressure to play it cool and the battle that goes on in my own psyche. Particularly in my line of work, many in my professional peer group are supremely cool. They wear the right toe-crunching, sexy, stylin’ shoes and coif their hair just so. They slip in under the velvet rope at the VIP lounges, while sipping on the right trendy cocktails. The way they write and the things they blog about and how they communicate and who they hang out with and the very air of how they present themselves - on stage and in life … [Read More...]
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