Letters To A Young Woman - To The One Who Shrinks

This series consists of a collection of letters for young women, letters to celebrate, console and encourage during a time in life that can feel relentlessly hard and alienating. This is a letter for women feeling the pressure to conform to the bodily ideals placed on us by society. The letter touches upon the difference in physical expectations between men and women and how the quest for self-acceptance is elusive when sought through the means of our bodies.

Transcript

Music you you Ask yourself the question.

How am I today?

Just see what comes up for you And be sure not to judge it whatever it is just notice it Feel it in your body Now as you take a slow inhale Imagine yourself Collecting the feeling and now take a long Exhale as you let the feeling go To the one who shrinks Place your personal value at the altar of thinness and youth and Be prepared to watch your value diminish Not only does body obsession erode our esteem systems over time the pursuit of thinness or bodily perfection blocks our activism and our dreams Our cultural preoccupation with keeping women small Doesn't stop at their bodies.

It seeps into the fabric of their being It's a distracting and corrosive patriarchal device This need to be a teeny tiny inoffensive female Whilst you will find that the boys and men around you are not exempt from worrying about their bodies The nature of their bodily ideal is telling For women it is keep thin but for men it is get strong Both are damaging But one leads to a much more powerful concept of what it is to be a human What's you are on this planet to do?

I want you to know that your body is a beautiful gift A unique home for your unique soul during this lifetime.

I Want you to know that the body is innocent and deserves to be treated with love.

I Want you to know that there is no destination to arrive at by means of your body It will make you feel complete Be vigilant in the defense of your body when your mind is giving reasons to attack One day you will burst forth from the limiting shell of self-doubt and your spirit of rebellion against all that you have been made to believe you should be Will inspire you to love yourself with a fierce loyalty that is unshakable and And serves as a beacon of hope You