Musings from the
Locker Room – the PG-13 version.
"To love yourself right now, just as you are, is to give yourself heaven. Don't
wait until you die. If you wait, you die now. If you love, you live
now." Alan Cohen
I grew up in a strict Christian family in central
Florida. There were no tight jeans, no
low cut shirts, no cut offs, no bikini’s- no discussion. I look at high school pictures and remember
that every bit of clothing that I owned was baggy “in case it might shrink.” If it was thought that you looked “sexy”, you
were sent back to change.
My upbringing has affected me for a long time. I was the girl who would awkwardly change in
the toilet stall, or who stayed wrapped up in a towel while trying to slide my
underwear on underneath. I would never wear a sundress or anything that
required a strapless bra, and always bought a one piece bathing suit. I always picked the back corner of the locker room,
and I’m quite sure I could set the speed record for dressing.
After being in locker rooms for several years now, it has occurred
to me not everyone was taught that nudity was wrong, or that naked bodies are automatically
equated with sex. Women lounge around sans clothing on chairs
and benches, put on makeup in thongs, and dry their hair topless. Some linger and talk to each other naked, or
leave the curtain open while showering.
There is nothing sexual about this….they just really do not care if
anyone sees them, or if they are being judged.
Their bodies are big and small. Their boobs are big and small. Their butts are big and small- and they don’t care.
I think about how freeing it would be if women could just
accept themselves for the beautiful people they are. What if we were happy with our body for its
strengths instead of judging ourselves and finding every flaw? What
if we were comfortable in our own skin?
I’m getting there. I don’t think I’ll ever wear the string bikini
that my Brazilian house cleaner gave me before a recent vacation; but I will wear the two piece with the sports bra top.
Sigh..... now if I had just had this revelation BEFORE having three
kids……..
This is a great read. Loved it! As a young girl, I worried in the locker rooms. It wasn't until I was a senior in high school and then in college....that I even got boobs, let alone felt secure enough to let myself just hang out. Keep inspiring us...Your friend, Tammy Lynn Vicent
ReplyDeleteMy wife is a flight attendant. A few years ago she was flying to Brazil with a colleague who is from there. They were so excited to go to the beach for a day. When my wife's friend saw my wife's one-piece, she told her, "NO. No, no, no...you are a beautiful woman and you need to be free to be yourself." She took her to buy a bikini. My wife said it was one of the most liberating things in her life; to be someplace where people didn't judge her body type, but just were happy to see her being herself. Reading this blog makes me wonder how bad we have made it for women to feel confident here in the states.
ReplyDeleteJenn
ReplyDeleteKnowing you have kids there is a great blog- theycallmemummy- she talks about the way our girls see us and how even when we aren't paying attention they are watching- listening and we are putting down their idol (ourselves) Leap forward 15 years- that same young girl is standing in the mirror- hating her "fat roll", or her "thunder thighs"- those same things we were telling ourselves just years earlier. It is so important to be aware of the little ones who are just watching and listening.
Christina