Body Politics

Sometimes ads just get on my last nerve.  These were on Facebook.  My 15 year old daughter is convinced that the “woman” in black shiny “pants” is a statue or something.

I watched the young woman who wrote this on the Body Politics wall, opening night at ArtOMatic 2009.

I posted a cropped photo of this on my blog today and then wrote my own “thought for the day” about those words (when I usually quote someone else).

I got to thinking about researching just exactly what it means when one says:  I hate my body.  Is the body the “Other?”  or is it just a way to say we hate ourselves; and why in the world would we hate ourself?  Because we aren’t happy?  And if we aren’t happy, why aren’t we happy?  Because we are listening to some artificial arbiter…and if we meet the standards of that arbiter (whatever they are) we think we will be happy?  Because we don’t measure up to some ideal of perfection (is anyone perfect?)

How did we get to this point?

So I googled “I Hate My Body” and got 40,800,000 hits (in .24 seconds).   Here’s a UTube on Tyra Banks’ interview of  5 – 10 year olds who hate their body.  Five to ten year olds!

Have we really come such a long way Baby?

Weighting for You, Heather’s newest contribution to the Body Politics project, launches on Artomatic’s opening day.  That’s today kiddos!

Read all about it here:  http://weighting.HeatherBartlettArt.com

I learned from Cali (see previous post) that there is a “Skinny Jeans Revolution” going on.  When did that happen?  I was really happy to hear about it!  Tammy and I first talked about the concept early last year while eating food at a local Mexican restaurant.  The exhibit debuted at the 2008 Artomatic.  We were needing jeans bad!  (I wish some of these folks had sent their jeans to us!  It’s not too late to participate in this year’s Body Politics Artomatic exhibit – a huge art event in DC.)

Were we picking up on the vibes of others?  Or simply noticing what others must have been noticing – that the pressure to get back into your old jeans was becoming a bit insidious?  Skinny jeans as a goal, the holy grail of feel good/look good dieting rewards was creeping into shows, particularly those aimed at women.  There are diet ads and whole websites surrounding the concept of losing weight to get back into your old jeans.

Well, however it happened, Tammy and I love being a part of the Skinny Jeans Revolution.  Cali pointed me to vlogs (gosh I can’t wait to get a vid cam) about the subject.  I really liked how this girl didn’t just destroy the jeans, she made them into something useful and pretty!  There are several good ones, actually.  One by a girl named Katrina (wallofweird) seemed to inspire a number of others to cut off their skinny jean shackles.

For our project “Farewell to Skinny Jeans” we want you to say goodbye to your skinny jeans and the idea that you aren’t good enough the way you are. Write on them. Make something out of them. Shred them. Write letters and stuff them in the pockets.  Pin on photos.  Whatever helps set you free. Read our participation guideline/disclaimer and then send them on to us for our exhibit if you want!

OR – if you live near DC, you can come to the show and hang your “Farewell to Skinny Jeans” jeans on our exhibit with the other jeans!

YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!

Here are a few links and a couple of videos:

beckfalls

alanenlisted

First, let me be clear again, that when we say “skinny jeans” we don’t mean the throw-back to the 80s tight-leg jean STYLE.  What we mean: the jeans that women and apparently men too,  cling to that they don’t fit into anymore and that they keep hoping to “get back into” some day if only they find the correct diet.  THOSE are the skinny jeans Tammy and I are referring to.

Okay – so… I came home from running an errand yesterday and had a very nice surprise on my doorstep.  I opened a package containing five pairs of jeans decorated by 8th-12th grade girls from the “Girls for a Change” conference in Bozeman, MT.  I was very choked up reading the note from Cali Morrison, who led the particular session, and sent them to to be a part of our “Farewell to Skinny Jeans” project, which debuted at Artomatic in May 2008.  Fortunatly she sent them just in time to be a part of this year’s Artomatic, which opens at the end of May!

Since the girls are pretty young, they aren’t really clinging to skinny jeans yet.  In fact, many of us did cling to our high school jeans!  So, they took the idea of the Farewell to Skinny Jeans project and morphed it a bit and talked about the history of jeans and how they make you feel.  What styles and types make you feel good or insecure or whatever.  Then the girls decorated these jeans and Cali sent them to us, where we are very proud to include them in our exhibit.

Girls for a Change statement from their website:

“To empower girls to embrace their future, confident about their individuality, supported by friends, parents, and mentors and secure in their ability to lead and to achieve self-sufficiency, fulfillment and success.” 

You could send us a pair of your skinny jeans (address below).  Or, even better, you could come by our Artomatic exhibit and hang a pair on the clothesline.

You could volunteer to model for Heather’s photography. No, you don’t have to model nude.  The object is to communicate something about your body that is important or significant to you. It could be that you don’t like your eye wrinkles or that you love your new breast implants.  It could be that you hate or love body hair.  Or that you are suffering from baldness, or an illness, like scoliosis or an injury.  Heather takes photos then chooses one or two and you write something about your feelings about that body part or image and your remarks are displayed along with the images.  Then, when there is an exhibit, people are invited to leave comments around the images.

You could come to exhibits and write your comments and pin them to the exhibit space.

You could  come to the exhibits and write on the scrolls.

You could come to the exhibit and write on the torsos.

You could send a postcard with a comment or artwork to:

Body Politics
c/o Heather Bartlett
1000 Tyler Ct.

Waldorf, MD 20602

*Any postcards, notes, comments and jeans you send to or leave for us become the property of Heather Bartlett and Tammy Vitale and the Body Politics project, which may then be re-produced and distributed.

If you havea any questions feel free to email Heather at goddess_hlb@yahoo.com

Isn’t it shocking?  Look how shocking it is!

Okay, YES, that photo is unflattering, but not because she’s “too fat” or anything.  It’s a weird angle, the lighting is bad, it’s fuzzy and so forth.

Look at the “thin” photo – her hair is blowing back – the lighting is great.  We have all had unflattering photos taken of us.  I would have loved to taken some photos of Ms. Ireland with those SHOCKING 25lbs. still on her.   Why is this news?  Why is 25lbs such news?  It’s good that she’s not over-indulging on the sweets – they can catch up to you, but not just in weight.  If she was unhappy, fine.  If she felt sluggish, FINE.  All any of these ex-starlet/supermodel types have to do to get big headlines these days is gain a few friggin’ pounds!

Like with Valerie – if Kathy feels better and is happier – YAY AND HOORAY FOR HER – but quit pushing the weight-loss angle wouldya?

I thought this bit of the article said it so very well and is pretty much what I’ve felt for years.

IMAGES AND FULL ARTICLE CLICK HERE

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In fact, what might be most striking about French Elle’s pictorial is how it actually appears to embrace and celebrate the organic beauty of these famous faces (even if the lighting is super, super flattering and the women are all unbelievably gorgeous to begin with). In the U.S., when you come across a “stars without makeup” story, there’s always a GOTCHA! element, a message that says “Our gift to you: Derive pleasure from how ugly this person looks without cover-up for her zits!”

Tammy and I will be exhibiting Body Politics at Artomatic again this year.  Now would be a good time to send in your skinny jeans or bring them by Artomatic when the exhibit opens and hang them right up!

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Artomatic 10th anniversary: Capitol Riverfront, May 29-July 5

Updated Fri, 03/27/2009 – 10:31am

Prepare to celebrate Artomatic’s 10th anniversary: The trademark, one-of-a-kind multimedia arts event will be at Half Street’s 55 M Street, S.E., in Washington, D.C.’s Capitol Riverfront neighborhood.

Artomatic 2009 will be held May 29 to July 5. Admission to Artomatic is always free for visitors.

Registration will begin in late March and will be open to all artists — including painters, photographers, sculptors, graphic designers, musicians, poets, actors and dancers. Artomatic is an unjuried event, so all artists are welcome, from professionals to beginners.

To be notified of the date when registration will open or to stay up on other Artomatic news, sign up to receive ArtoNews, the Artomatic newsletter, on this web site.

Planning for the event is well underway. Artomatic is run entirely by participating volunteers, and new participants are sought year-round. To help make plans for our 10th anniversary, e-mail volunteer@artomatic.org.

There are almost always body related Postsecrets.  Some of them are so sad.  And I can relate deeply with most of them.