Your Body is your Dictatorship, Not Everyone's Democracy! Written and Illustrated by Leena Jain
Your Body is your Dictatorship, Not Everyone's Democracy!
Your Body is Your Dictatorship, Not Everyone’s Democracy! COPYRIGHT (C) 2016 by Leena Jain All Rights Reserved.
Acknowledgements This book is an attempt to encourage growing adolscents to be secure about their bodies, especially since the body positivity movement has gained such momentum. I would like to take this opportunity to show my heartfelt gratitude to Mr. Lokesh Ghai, who has been a great mentor and has guided me in every step of thinking from a larger perspective, to arriving to this solution for the messy situation.
Contents
1
The earth is a diverse place, embrace your differences
2
Don’t worry about your bosoms!
3
That winged liner doesn't make you pretty, your mind does!
4
Bodies get lots of gifts from the nature!
5
Your Stretch marks are not your flaws!
6
Orderly and Disorderly Eating Habits
7
Love your body and treat it right!
‘Don’t lose or gain a few pounds for looking ‘pretty’, probably just lose the advice’
1 The earth is a diverse place, embrace your differences Does your best friend look like you? Does a sunflower look like a daisy, does a squirrel look like a rabbit? No, right? But should a squirrel look like a rabbit or should the sunflower look like a rose? Aren’t they “supposed” to look different, just like you and your best friend who come from a different worlds, isn’t diversity fabulous? It makes our lives so much more interesting and far from mundane, what if all flowers looked like sunflower, and all insects looked like a mosquito, wouldn’t that be boring? Think what if all humans did look the same, wore similar clothes, had similar types of bodies, did the same things? Would you like that kind of a world? Diversity is what brings possibility in our lives – possibilities to have variety in culture, clothing, food, weather, society, literature, art and everything else. The human body also is diverse, your body, the bodies of people around you have developed over a great period of time, probably millions of centuries since evolution. Your body shape depends a lot on how your immediate environment is, how the environment of your great ancestors was and how it developed, the surroundings – as it came to your parents, and how things around you have changed. Every ‘body’ has a story, embrace it.
‘You’re brave and not airbrushed’
As a civilization, the human society has always been one that has managed to have a preference of one type over another, right from pre-history. Archaeologists believe that the human body has always been a muse for humans, whether it was fertility figures like the ‘Venus of Wilendorf’ which suggests a heavier body type as a preferred one as it reflects the fertile powers of the female body, whereas the Victorian era preferred a hourglass body with very slim waists for which women would adorn extremely tight corsets to sculpt their bodies. Why? Why do we have a ‘preference’ over something that is an identity to us as individuals – even in the 21st century, when we know that the human body develops on the basis of demographics and genetics, we still see airbrushed images on the fashion magazines, and we often talk about ‘flaws’ in the body whereas there are no flaws, they are a part of your own unique identity, why can’t we be proud of what we look like genetically and demographically?
‘Good Things come in all types of packages’
Science says, bodies come in a variety of shapes and sizes not a factory mould. There are three terminologies, and bodies are usually a combination of these – 1. Ectomorphs – Bodies that are long and lean with less body fat and muscle and have hard time gaining weight. Health risks include weakness, low immunity, osteoporosis and easy loss of energy reserves. 2. Endomorphs – Bodies that have a lot of body fat and muscle and easily gain weight. Health Risks include High blood pressure, Type II Diabetes, but they have high reserves of energy and immunity, which can help in situations like famines. 3. Mesomorphs – Easily lose or gain weight, but have a bent towards being an ectomorph or an endomorph because bodies are usually a mix of these definations. No matter what your body type is, it comes with its own set of risks and benefits, depending on what surroundings the genetics grew to survive on– embrace your body shape and the story it says, make sure you get a balanced diet and exercise and never listen to anyone when it comes to your body, because Your body is Your dictatorship.
‘You have a unique set of genes which makes your mind, body and soul special’
2 Don't worry about your bosoms Breasts are a part of the female body, and bodies are not ‘manufactured’ out of a machine, they are a combination of genes from many unique set of other humans, and that’s why all bodies are diverse, unique and beautiful in their own ways. Feeling that a part of your body isn’t grown out completely or is grown out too much is sort of stupid, because your bosoms or your buttocks are not like someone else’s, they are a unique genetic combination! You should be rather be happy that you don’t look like a manufactured product, then what would be the difference between two females? So whatever your bra size is, embrace the shape and size of your breasts and hips rather than feeling that you need to have more or less fat, because what you have is unique and it’s absolutely personal and yours to cherish. Also remember getting your breasts and urinary tract checked every few months, for keeping a check on your personal health, preventing any exposure to ovarian cancer or breast cancer.
‘Conforming to standards is so cliché’
3 That winged liner doesn't make you pretty, your mind does! Do you wear glasses? Do you wear make-up? Do you have a morning routine and a night routine for your skin? Well, it’s all up for choice, it is very essential to take good care of your skin, but remember your preference of wearing make-up or not wearing it does not label you as pretty or not, it is a choice, never do something out of compulsion forced by the people and the society, it’s YOUR CHOICE! You love wearing and experimenting with make-up, go ahead, but make sure you take good care of your skin, while if you don’t like it, don’t ever feel like you can’t be a pretty soul, only your mind and the innocence of your soul decides that, you don’t get pretty by outer materialistic appearance, so every morning rather than giving out five minutes to apply that winged liner only out of peer compulsion, take a deep breath and think of all your accomplishments and goals you have ahead!
‘Make an informed choice, take your own stand and own up to it!’
4 Bodies get lots of gifts from the nature! Right under your arms, all around your thighs, and also above your lip, and some around your brows, one day you will realise or be made to realise that you have some black strings growing or I may say, body hair. Your body is covered with hair especially on the most sensitive parts and they are a gift from the nature as shields or protective layers that grow in accordance with the nearest environment. People do shave off or wax these hair off their bodies for ‘beauty’ or ‘hygiene’ purposes - and that’s a choice. Nothing on your body should be removed without your complete consent mentally and physically, nothing should be done out of compulsion. You don’t have to remove the hair if you want to embrace the natural protection, trust me there can be no hygiene issues if you clean well and just trim them off certain areas where they grow out a lot, no need for special brazilian wax, many are forced to get one while others don’t find the process daunting. However, it is important to realise how important the factor of CHOICE plays when your body is concerned. Don’t do anything to your body out of seeming societal compulsion! Think of the great Frida Kahlo, the great artist who had facial hair and she embraced her making it a part of her personality often visible in her portraits.
‘Your Stretch marks are your milestones!’
5 your stretch marks are not your flaws! Your body is constantly growing and stretching, stretch marks are just a natural part of growing up, they are a proof that your body is growing in a healthy way – they are like lightning strikes that remind that you’re a growing human – a force of nature and a beautiful creature! They show that your body is developing every single day, and that you are living every moment – they are memories that your body makes, treat them like milestones – because they remind you of how your body has grown in every stage of your life, whether it is the present stage of puberty and adolescence or later stages where you are finding your way into womanhood and motherhood, they are a proof that you are a wonderful power who could reproduce and procreate, nurture another healthy being inside your own body, how can someone even feel ashamed of these milestones?
‘An Apple with a chocolate, the taste buds are as delighted as the soul’
6 orderly and disorderly eating habits What happened when evolution began, why did we start searching, hunting, and working in the first place – to satiate our hunger, right? To fuel our body and mind to be able to function in a healthy manner, isn’t food extra-ordinarily a nonseparable part of our daily routine? Then why does the entire concept of ‘crash dieting’ even exist? Why do we tend to listen to other people when they say ‘you would look a lot prettier if you’d shed off a few kilos’, why? Is it what you want to do? Beauty isn’t about being lean or voluptuous, it is all about embracing your body shape with healthy eating habits, which means a balanced diet – eating your veggies, but also placating your sweet tooth and eating chocolates – maintaining both your physical as well as mental health.
‘Never let your anyone else take decisions for your body, it is like your temple!’
7 love your body and treat it right! You have the entire right over your body – treat it the right way, as you would treat something you worship. Let your body grow, but also take care of what you consume and how much of it you consume – no excess whatsoever of veggies neither of sweet foods, everything in moderation according to your diet and metabolism. The Body Mass Index gives a fair idea of a healthy body, it is a scale that defines your height and weight ratio according to a standardized rate, though all bodies are different and should be treated in their specific ways, and the scale can help you embrace your body shape with maintaining a healthy weight check. Do whatever physical activity you enjoy, whether it is Yoga, Dance, a sport, a walk or the gym, keep your muscles moving – it not only rejuvenates your mind but also your soul.
Write ten things you love about yourself, include your hobbies, physical attributes and whatever else comes your mind, embrace your individuality, draw your own weird self on the left!