All About that Bass

It's probably not a surprise that I'm all about that bass. I remember in high school one of my male friends telling me my butt was similar to Jennifer Lopez's. This was before J. Lo was cool. I think her credits included being a fly girl on In Living Color and Selena. I was pretty offended at the time because having a booty in the late 90s wasn't cool. In the years since it's become fashionable to have a curvy bum, and I've learned to embrace it. Today, while wearing a clingy dress that shows I've got curves in all the right places, I'm thankful to the booty pioneers like J. Lo and Beyoncé for making the rest of our curvy selves cool.

 I started thinking about this blog while wearing new running shorts that are huge in the waist but tight in the butt. It's a girl with a bubble butt's cross to bear. Everything is tight in the butt and loose in the waist. Why do you think I'm always wearing dresses? Pants and I are not often friends.

 It's nearly bathing suit season, a time that makes women cringe. While I certainly have a plethora of body image issues that won't go away even with tons of therapy, I've generally become okay with having more curves. I know I'm small, and my curves are proportionate. But it took me a long time to be okay with skinny jeans hugging this runner's hips and thighs. That's where the muscle's at!

 I don't see myself the way I actually look, and that's a constant struggle. But every little bit of body acceptance feels like a victory to me. Nearly 20 years after being told I look like J. Lo (Selena version), I'm (mostly) okay with it. All of this is being said before I've gone bathing suit shopping. Someone remind me of this post then, okay?


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Some Reasons Why Diet Culture is Garbage: I Poop a Lot and I'm Always Hungry

Image
It was the spring of 1996, and my mom and I were at the mall shopping for my senior prom dress. I had decided I was only going to eat 500 calories a day over the weekend. It was track season, so I couldn't starve myself on practice and meet days, but in my mind it seemed perfectly logical to basically starve my healthy, 17-year-old body on less physical days. I was in the fitting room trying on dresses, and I heard the sales person say to my mom, "Your daughter is so tiny!" I was light headed and nauseous from not eating, but that overheard compliment made me feel like it was all worth it.  Senior Prom 1996 I've struggled with my body image since I was a pre-teen, and in the 30+ years that have passed it's still something with which I struggle daily. I spent years punishing my body so I wouldn't gain weight: eating very few calories and working out for hours, purging, taking laxatives, only drinking alcohol until I threw up so I wouldn't gain weight. It...
Read more

Here's a Shortcut: Do the Work.

Image
I have a confession to make: I don't think I'm my best self right now. I've been thinking a lot about being my best self overall (including fitness which is a huge thing for me), and I've come to a simple, unalienable truth: there is no shortcut. To be the best version of yourself (whatever that means) you have to do the work. I'm not the same version of myself at 46 as I was at 26. (Man could I give that girl some good advice though.) I spend a lot of time reflecting on who I am and who I want to be. While doing the work all the time seems daunting on its surface, it's not. It doesn't mean life has to be a grind 24/7, but it does mean that there is effort in whatever is important to you (which of course is unique to each of us). Where am I willing to do the work to be the best version of me? Fitness. I love exercise. My husband says I'm "obsessed", and I retort that there are way worse obsessions. While I'm logging way fewer miles than I ...
Read more

Why Do I Talk About my "Stuff"?

Image
A few months ago a friend told me someone we knew was venting that I share too much about myself in my blog and on social media. She said (I'm paraphrasing) something like "We all go through stuff. There's no need to share it." At first I was irritated until I realized this person has zero impact on my life. And it's true: we are all going through things. But since then I've been thinking a lot about why I am so candid about things in my life (in particular my struggle with Crohn's Disease).  I was 19 when I got sick. It was so embarrassing. No college girl wants to tell people they're dealing with bloody diarrhea and nausea and horrible cramps. That's the thing about a chronic illness: it's easy to feel like you don't have anyone to lean on. I had my colon removed 5 weeks before I started law school (the delightful adventure chronicled in this blog ). I began law school having lost 30 pounds in less than a month, with steroids puffing up m...
Read more