GIRLS
GIRLS Iona Berry
“My biggest insecurity has always been my hairy arms and legs, this
‘gorilla’, thats appearance, and
has grown since primary school and I got called
the only time ive ever been insulted on my is definitely the thing i’ve always been most self conscious about”
“I have quite a large birth mark on my throat and from a young age people would comment on it. They’d tell me to wipe it, because they said it looked like dirt, or chocolate. They’d say it looked like a bruise. People would ask me why I hadn’t gotten rid of it, which made me start thinking that it was wrong that I had it. But now I have no issue with my birth mark and it’s just a part of
me”
“I think the mainstream definition of woman, as viewed by society in general,
construct helps
to
under
maintain
the
women’s
system position
of
a beautiful is a social
patriarchy as inferior to
which men”
“I try to look at media critically and use my
feminist
ideals
as a sort of ‘shield’ against negative media messages, but they’re so pervasive that I think that if you engage in society at any level you’re always going to be affected by things. Like when l
looking at women’s magazines, you can have the idea in your head that all these images are
photo-shopped and that the stories are totally contradictory
diet articles and real life and ridiculous, you still come away feeling worse about yourself�
“I wouldn’t say I have any physical insecurities. I know I might have big feet, a big nose and not great hair or skin all of the time, but I accept those traits as part of myself as much as my personality
flaws.
As long as my body is strong and healthy I respect it for doing what it does everyday. I spend more of time worrying about whether I am a good friend/ student/ employee rather than how I look. I wouldn’t say that confidence has always been the case, I think it is something which comes with age. And maybe realising that how you look is often the
smallest
part of how people perceive you”
“My biggest insecurity is that I won’t be able to accomplish my dream of performing, I’m worried that I won’t be good enough, that my body won’t be
strong
enough, thin enough, flexible enough. That I won’t
be confident enough and that I won’t be able to take the pressure”
“Women are totally conditioned to invest everything into their looks. It’s a way of stripping how
female
power
from women, if you look at
politicians are treated compared to men: they’re
in these really important jobs and they’re shouted down and discounted on the basis of their haircuts! There’s such a narrow criteria of ‘hotness’ which NO-ONE can achieve, that women are
constantly
being told they’re worthless for not fitting into”
“I hate the way ‘beauty’ is imposed on women, and I wish I had the personal
fuck. But then on the other hand - clothes, hair and makeup have kind of become entwined in my identity. So strength to not give a
when I feel beautiful I feel more ‘me’, I guess because itmakes you feel
comfortable with yourself and therefore more confident. And I do
enjoy using make up, wearing nice dresses etc. but then my feminist voice tells me it’s cause I have been brain washed. So it’s a bit of a struggle….”
“To me, beauty in someone, or something is a feeling. Whether it is a persons looks, their deeds, an image or a certain view, I think beauty is something that gets you in the pit of your stomach. The fact that many people find the same things beautiful (sunsets, George
Clooney…) shows that there must be some objective features which create that feeling, but it is also very subjective to the individual. I think it is a highly visual feeling, on the other hand I’m sure someone who was blind would have their own definition of what is beautiful”
“My dyslexia has always made me feel a couple ten steps behind. Not being able to keep up with normal life and other people’s standards left me feeling empty. I used to feel so insecure about it and do my best to hide it, but i’ve found growing acceptance of myself almost gives others the space to acknowledge and
accept
their own idiosyncrasies”
“I feel at my most confident around my
family,
I’m always
very conscious of being misjudged, I feel people don’t always understand me straight away. My Mum and Sister know me completely, they don’t care how I look or how I
act”
“I use make up as a protective layer because I am always afraid that someone is going to judge me. The process of letting someone see me and photograph me like this has reassured me
vulnerable and people won’t see me as ugly. I am in the process of accepting myself and my appearance, I feel confident I can overcome irrational fear and live a freer life” that I can be
First Edition All Rights Reserved Photographs, Layout and Text Š Iona Berry 2014