Summer Days and Bikinis

Here in NC, Summer isn't over yet. We still have plenty of warm days ahead of us full of tank tops and shorts and, yes, fatkinis. Bikini photos are hard for me, almost as hard as the nude photos that I've done since a bikini leaves very little to the imagination anyway. Most of my shoots focus on my face, my makeup, my costume, but I feel like bikini shoots take that focus and expressly put it square onto my stomach.

My stomach has always caused me problems even from the times when it barely existed. At 17 I wore a size 15/16 with barely a belly bulge at all and yet I cried before prom because I thought I was too fat to go because of my stomach.

I could spend all day wishing my shape was different. That my weight was proportioned into an hourglass figure or that my belly was round instead of rolly. I can and have spent years of my life on diet and exercise plans trying to change that belly, spent hours in front of mirrors lifting it and pulling it this way and that thinking "if only...". I tell you this because despite these issues I've had and still have with  my stomach, I post these photos for you so that you know it's okay. No matter what size or shape you are, it's all going to be alright. In a fatkini or a one piece, your body is beautiful and magnificent and so amazing it's beyond words. And I'm still trying to work on it, but so is mine.

Photos by MM Photography

Makeup Free monday: August

Makeup free Monday self portraits for the month of August, showing you all that you're beautiful without any "help" at all!

8-6-12

8-13-12 making my best fishy face

8-20-12

8-27-12 Oreo face

Senior style portraits

It's been a while since I was a senior in high school.. a long while. But nostalgic memories return with this set from James Roddick Photography which has a distinctly senior portrait look. Just think about all that's changed in the past decade- or however long it's been for you since those days. For me, I only wish I'd found fat acceptance sooner before I'd put my body through a decade long eating disorder, before I'd tortured and scarred my body because of self hatred. Fat acceptance has been the best thing in my life and has done the most to heal me. Tell me, what's changed most for you? Anyway, here are the photos- enjoy!

Fat Sex is Good Sex

Thanks to several fat activists on facebook a study on fat sex has been making the rounds. The small study finds that women who are comfortable with their bodies have better and more satisfying sex lives while women who are uncomfortable with their bodies have less fulfilling sex lives or abstain altogether.  Are you shocked yet? Anything? No? Me neither. Because hating yourself leads to the best sex said no person ever.

Women in the study who said they had begun to embody fat pride reported finally having the confidence to end negative relationships and "retrain" their partners to satisfy them sexually. "As the women experience less body shame and increased confidence, they also seek out or attract partners who treat them better and truly appreciate them,"

Of course, those who seek to keep us down by force feeding hate down our throats might argue that we shouldn't be having sex anyway. Think about that. Think about the quality of life that these people are trying to force on us. You can't be happy until you're thin and since that's not happening for 95% of people you just can't be happy. The women in this study not only had great sex lives but dared to defy the haters by being happy in general.

So my argument is that even if being fat was unhealthy, even if it took ten years off my life or  more, quality matters more than quantity. As The Doctor said, some people live more in 20 years than others do in 80. So if I die at 70 then that's 70 years of happiness and a lot of years of really great sex, friends, family, adventures, and living as opposed to 70 years of being a sad and depressed anxiety filled shut away. I'd rather take the fabulous life thank you.

The Season of The Witch

Awesome witchy photos by James Roddick Photography.

June/July Makeup Free Mondays

Every Monday since June I've been posting to my flickr and my facebook page makeup free shots. I've decided to show these self portraits here, with you. You don't need cosmetics to be beautiful- you don't need anything except for you.

I was feeling pastel-y this day 

be the change you want to see in the world- Gandhi 

now you know what my bedhead looks like

sunflowers are my favorite summer flower

I got this new scarf at the Natural History museum in DC

showing off my copy of Fat The Owners Manual by Ragen Chastain

Wandering Pirate

This is a little big of an older shoot from when I still had white hair. Just took me a little while to get the photos. But as soon as I did I uploaded them for you. Photos are by James Roddick Photography.