Here we realize that the messages that are being sent every day create a whole lot of Size Issues. And other issues. Editorials, articles, commercials and even our own communities tell us things about acceptable body diversity every day. We like to celebrate when these things are broken down, and the way we can celebrate ourselves.
And of course, people are welcome to submit!
(Source: iridessence)
8th May 2012
Reblogged From chubby-bunnies
Notes: 1625
Alison Lapper, British disabled artist who is probably most famous for having a nude marble sculpture of her when pregnant placed on a plinth in Trafalgar Square. (The statue was made by a non-disabled sculptor… I think it’s kind of ironic that it took that, rather than her own work, to make her famous.) This is a triptych of nude self-portraits.
THUNDERTHIGHS
Now that we’ve demonstrated that I am wildly liberal and politically angry, back to our regularly scheduled artwork. Thank you for bearing the brunt of my art block.
This is an amalgamation of two things: my need to see body diversity in art, and my recently discovered love for poster making. I never understood why ‘thunder thighs’ was an insult. It sounds powerful to me. Reminiscent of an almighty, unstoppable ruckus in the clouds, a veritable fucking rock show of giants, Bikini Kill on amps the size of mountains.
Thunder thighs, huh? I can dig it.
I love this! Thunder thighs really is the weirdest approximation of an insult/self-depreciation even though I kind of mindlessly accepted that it was supposed to be one when I was younger. It sounds badass!
Hi all, I’m Kate. Long time lurker on this wonderful blog. It’s so inspirational. I love to see everyone’s posts and how everyone is unique in their own skin and all absolutely beautiful.
I have suffered from body image issues ever since I could remember. It’s been hard for me to accept who I am, what I look like and my flaws. It came to a point where I told myself enough is enough.
This blog made me realize that imperfections make you perfect and I shouldn’t be ashamed of anything. Not of my cellulite on my legs, not of my body hair on my stomach, not of my small breasts.
I have always disliked the bottom half of my body. I’ve called it terrible things, including wobbly, big, jiggly and fat as have others. But now, I appreciate my wobbly parts, accept my flaws and ignore the hateful comments.
I’ve grown to like my thighs, I call them juicy! I’ve come to learn how to appreciate and love my body by seeing others do the same.
Love the skin you’re in, you deserve to feel great about yourself.
- Camera: Nikon COOLPIX L120
- Aperture: f/3.1
- Exposure: 1/1th
- Focal Length: 4mm
Charley size 26 UK
Loving my body more than I ever have before.
Come and follow me guys. :)
- Camera: Photo Booth
I’ve got nothing to hide. I choose love.
- Camera: Nikon COOLPIX L120
- Aperture: f/3.1
- Exposure: 1/15th
- Focal Length: 4mm
(Source: fuckyouverymuch)
So.. I find myself in a position where perhaps I don’t feel I am being completely honest with myself. I’ve grown a lot. And I thought that I really loved my body… and then I sat down with my camera today, completely naked, without makeup, fresh out of the shower and was actually a little bothered by the things showing up in pictures.
Stretch marks, fat rolls, blemishes, dark marks… they are all a part of me so why am I so bothered by them?
So I’ll post them and share them. And continue to come to terms with the fact that I am still growing and learning to love my body as it is and not just how I can make it appear.
<333
Bodies are awesome. Learning to live with the fact that your body is not an airbrushed magazine cover is super awesome.
Look at this fucking body warrior. She is beautiful, honest and inspiring. This is what women (identified folks) need to see- other women (identified folks), outside the pages of magazines, naked in a non-sexual way. Every body is different, every body is lovely.
What beauty.
Beautiful.
I need to do this. I’m a little shy of nude just because — the internet! — which is not to say anything bad about those who do, actually more that you all are braver than I am, haha. But the reasons I haven’t taken pictures of myself just chillin in my underwear is because of things like the things that were holding you back — that there still are minute details of my body that bother me; things like dark marks or hair or what have you even more so than asymmetry or fat. This reminds me that I should love all of me and that all of me is beautiful. If I can see it in someone else I can see it in me.
So thank you for this, because you are beautiful and so am I and so is everyone else. Even if it’s not in a picture I definitely encourage other people to examine their bodies and admire them, come to terms with what they are afraid of.
(Source: fat-and-naked)
![bodilydiversity:
[image description: sammy, an ftm poses nude for the camera . he has several tattoos, hairy pits, a bit of bulge on the belly, a silver septum piercing and a radiant smile.]
olypunkboi:
Naked man with boobs! :)
I said I wanted more boys on the blog and more marginalized bodies, but this wasn’t a conscious intent to post that as much as LOVING this picture. Sammy’s smile is contagious!](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lryy323Nk51qf1uqdo1_500.jpg)
[image description: sammy, an ftm poses nude for the camera . he has several tattoos, hairy pits, a bit of bulge on the belly, a silver septum piercing and a radiant smile.]
Naked man with boobs! :)
I said I wanted more boys on the blog and more marginalized bodies, but this wasn’t a conscious intent to post that as much as LOVING this picture. Sammy’s smile is contagious!
- Camera: iPod touch
- Aperture: f/2.4
- Exposure: 1/60th
- Focal Length: 3mm
![ireensarrows:
[Image Description: A cropped picture of a fat, light-skinned person in fishnet-stockings. They grab their belly with both hands and point their toes.]
curvaceousdee:
The beautiful belly of Luna Noir.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lpkxx1eDMN1qgzhmko1_500.jpg)
[Image Description: A cropped picture of a fat, light-skinned person in fishnet-stockings. They grab their belly with both hands and point their toes.]
The beautiful belly of Luna Noir.
- Camera: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XTi
- Aperture: f/8
- Exposure: 1/30th
- Focal Length: 28mm
(Source: radicalmasturbators)
I <3 adipositivity!
I adore this picture! I like the different sizes, proportions, hair, skin tones, and the unified posture and heart shapes in the chairs. <3 for everyone!
“Fat people have sex. Sweet, tender, luscious sex. Sweaty, feral, sheet-ripping sex. Shivery, jiggly, gasping sex. Sentimental, slow, face-cradling sex. Even as you read these words, there are fat people out there somewhere joyously getting their freak on. Not only that, but fat people are falling in love, having hook ups, being crushed-out, putting on sexy lingerie, being the objects of other people’s lust, flirting, primping before hot dates, melting a little as they read romantic notes from their sweeties, seducing and being seduced, and having shuddering, toe-curling orgasms that are as big as they are.” - Hanne Blank (from Big Big Love)
Photo: From adipositivity
![malesubmissionart:
A man bound with his arms above his head bites his lip as a woman wearing a sunhat gropes him and smiles.
Shortly after I saw this contribution to Submissive Secrets, I reblogged it on my personal Tumblr to ask for more images featuring both male submission and body-positivity. Almost immediately after that, ireensarrows suggested this photograph. Then, after using that “secret” to announce Submissive Secrets on Male Submission Art, mswyrr independently suggested the exact same photograph.
I could not have been more pleased. Not only is this picture a gorgeous contribution in its own right—look at her smile, his responsiveness, the bondage!—the models are none other than my friends Kitty Stryker, a self-identified fat girl, and her partner (whose self-identification I am unaware of but who is certainly larger in size than I am); I recognized them immediately. Moreover, the image is sourced from the Filament Magazine blog, whose author, Suraya Singh, has been a repeat guest on the netcast I produce, Kink On Tap.
In one hand, the fact that there seems to be such a small group of Good People doing this Good Work is disquieting. In the other, I’m reminded how despite the fact that only 2% of Americans were actively involved in the civil rights movement, they had an enormous impact. (And while I cannot verify that statistic, I also don’t wish to see it debunked because it gives me hope.)
mswyrr had this to say:
In response to the secret you posted: submissive boys with body fat are fucking gorgeous, too. Sweet and touchable. I could cuddle up to a boy and stroke his soft tummy in quiet bliss for hours. There are no words!
I like skinny boys, too. But, among the minority of images portraying male submission, it is a sad fact that thin men and buff men are most widely represented. I’m submitting this image because it’s one of the few I’ve found of a big, beautiful fellow. Guh.
As I’ve said before, the sheer number of duplicate suggestions this blog gets evinces the paltry availability of quality erotic images featuring marginalized groups. Even the way “male submission” is often (mis)understood as “femdom” reveals a fractal pattern of categorical privilege flipped upside-down when it comes to sexuality. Though not always welcome attention, fat women are sometimes fetishized, while fat men are overwhelmingly portrayed as purely repulsive.
Kitty has written about the “rather weighty issue” of her size:
[I]f I’m just having a self-concious sort of day, I get a bit nervous stripping down. I make sure my panties are smoothed over my belly in a way that disguises the way it curves to my pubic hair. […] I wouldn’t say I don’t like [my body]—I do, we go through a lot together, it and I, and I have few complaints—I think I feel uncertain of it, more, unsure that it’s up to par.
Although written by a woman, these are sentiments I imagine many fat men can relate to. As with most issues regarding self-esteem, the discussion is dominated by women’s insecurities, leaving men trapped in the Man Box. As a result, fat men frequently face similar sexual erasure as other “other”-ed groups. Sadly, they have few places, if any, to experience being desired—as they are.
-maymay
Have I mentioned this blog is occasionally NSFW? I did mention that, right?
I’m a recent reader of maymay’s blog and likewise, MaleSubmissionArt, and so I was equally thrilled to see this pic, which is obviously relevant to my interests. It works for The Size Issue for its body diversity, but it also works because I like to include marginalized groups, of which male submissives (particularly positive depictions) are one. (If you too want to see more of that corner of the internet, I really do recommend the blog I linked this from).
I don’t agree with every sentiment here - I do think that while fat men suffer from being seen as repulsive in ways that fat women sometimes are seen to escape when they have admirers (although sometimes that boils down to people who like curves), fat men often also don’t have the pressure to BE thin and take up less space that women face either. MaleSubmissionArt is written by a guy, and while maymay is generally awesome, there are some issues surrounding gender that I feel like boils down to experience. That said, I’ve never been a guy and been expected to be ~masculine~! So maybe we both don’t know.
However, I would say in certain communities the pressure is different as well: for example, images of men submitting to women (or other men, maybe especially) are a variety of things but fat (or fat in a way portrayed as positive) is generally not one of them. I also see this happening with my genderqueer and trans boy friends a lot too - the pressure to be that slim, androgynous creature or stereotypical tiny queer boy.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_llzy1hajAP1qzs83zo1_r1_500.jpg)
A man bound with his arms above his head bites his lip as a woman wearing a sunhat gropes him and smiles.
Shortly after I saw this contribution to Submissive Secrets, I reblogged it on my personal Tumblr to ask for more images featuring both male submission and body-positivity. Almost immediately after that, ireensarrows suggested this photograph. Then, after using that “secret” to announce Submissive Secrets on Male Submission Art, mswyrr independently suggested the exact same photograph.
I could not have been more pleased. Not only is this picture a gorgeous contribution in its own right—look at her smile, his responsiveness, the bondage!—the models are none other than my friends Kitty Stryker, a self-identified fat girl, and her partner (whose self-identification I am unaware of but who is certainly larger in size than I am); I recognized them immediately. Moreover, the image is sourced from the Filament Magazine blog, whose author, Suraya Singh, has been a repeat guest on the netcast I produce, Kink On Tap.
In one hand, the fact that there seems to be such a small group of Good People doing this Good Work is disquieting. In the other, I’m reminded how despite the fact that only 2% of Americans were actively involved in the civil rights movement, they had an enormous impact. (And while I cannot verify that statistic, I also don’t wish to see it debunked because it gives me hope.)
mswyrr had this to say:
In response to the secret you posted: submissive boys with body fat are fucking gorgeous, too. Sweet and touchable. I could cuddle up to a boy and stroke his soft tummy in quiet bliss for hours. There are no words!
I like skinny boys, too. But, among the minority of images portraying male submission, it is a sad fact that thin men and buff men are most widely represented. I’m submitting this image because it’s one of the few I’ve found of a big, beautiful fellow. Guh.
As I’ve said before, the sheer number of duplicate suggestions this blog gets evinces the paltry availability of quality erotic images featuring marginalized groups. Even the way “male submission” is often (mis)understood as “femdom” reveals a fractal pattern of categorical privilege flipped upside-down when it comes to sexuality. Though not always welcome attention, fat women are sometimes fetishized, while fat men are overwhelmingly portrayed as purely repulsive.
Kitty has written about the “rather weighty issue” of her size:
[I]f I’m just having a self-concious sort of day, I get a bit nervous stripping down. I make sure my panties are smoothed over my belly in a way that disguises the way it curves to my pubic hair. […] I wouldn’t say I don’t like [my body]—I do, we go through a lot together, it and I, and I have few complaints—I think I feel uncertain of it, more, unsure that it’s up to par.
Although written by a woman, these are sentiments I imagine many fat men can relate to. As with most issues regarding self-esteem, the discussion is dominated by women’s insecurities, leaving men trapped in the Man Box. As a result, fat men frequently face similar sexual erasure as other “other”-ed groups. Sadly, they have few places, if any, to experience being desired—as they are.
Have I mentioned this blog is occasionally NSFW? I did mention that, right?
I’m a recent reader of maymay’s blog and likewise, MaleSubmissionArt, and so I was equally thrilled to see this pic, which is obviously relevant to my interests. It works for The Size Issue for its body diversity, but it also works because I like to include marginalized groups, of which male submissives (particularly positive depictions) are one. (If you too want to see more of that corner of the internet, I really do recommend the blog I linked this from).
I don’t agree with every sentiment here - I do think that while fat men suffer from being seen as repulsive in ways that fat women sometimes are seen to escape when they have admirers (although sometimes that boils down to people who like curves), fat men often also don’t have the pressure to BE thin and take up less space that women face either. MaleSubmissionArt is written by a guy, and while maymay is generally awesome, there are some issues surrounding gender that I feel like boils down to experience. That said, I’ve never been a guy and been expected to be ~masculine~! So maybe we both don’t know.
However, I would say in certain communities the pressure is different as well: for example, images of men submitting to women (or other men, maybe especially) are a variety of things but fat (or fat in a way portrayed as positive) is generally not one of them. I also see this happening with my genderqueer and trans boy friends a lot too - the pressure to be that slim, androgynous creature or stereotypical tiny queer boy.