the women’s network and uon Feminists present:
The Body
Issue 1
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The Trans Body Issue– Page 4
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Fat Shaming: Gabourey Sidibe Reclaiming the Right to be Confident– Page 6
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Fem News– Page 8
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Strong Is The New Sexy– Page 10 Who Owns Your Sexuality? - Page 12
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Meghan Trainor, Nicki Minaj, and the Rise of Skinny Shaming– Page 14
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Body Confidence Week Timetable– Page 16
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Inner Beauty and the Individual– Page 18
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Hourglass– Page 19
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elcome to the latest issue of the Women’s Network and UoN Feminists Zine, which is published in conjunction with the University of Nottingham’s Body Confidence Week. You can find a full timetable of events on page 16, and get involved in promoting body confidence by tweeting #uonbodyconfidence!
This issue is all about encouraging people to explore body image issues in positive ways. On page 12, we examine the recent celebrity nude leaks, look at transgender body issues on page 4, and hear about body confidence in sport on page 10 from the president of UoN Karate. Laverne Cox was voted by you as the next (reclaiming) Page 3 Girl, so thanks to everyone who voted! We believe she is a fantastic role model when it comes to re-evaluating what body image means, and is an allround lovely lady. Check her out on...page 3! Special thanks to the contributors, and everyone on the zine team who made this issue possible. If you want to get involved with the next issue, see the back page for more details. Enjoy,
Amelia Bauer
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Cover image source: Aiden Koch.
Editor.
reclaiming
Page 3 This issue’s Page 3 Girl, as voted by you and winner by a landslide of 75%, is the lovely Laverne Cox. Most recognisable as Sophia from the Netflix series Orange is the New Black, Laverne has become one of the main faces of modern feminism. Her talks raising awareness for trans issues are widely attended and her work campaigning to free CeCe Green after suffering a racist, transmisogynistic attack has brought her into the limelight as an activist against oppression, and made her a role model for women everywhere. Watch her latest MTV documentary, ‘Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word’ and her upcoming production ‘Free CeCe’ to follow the inspirational story of her fight for justice.
'‘I think it's actually important for us to empower being trans, and to understand that being trans is beautiful, and we shouldn't impose normative standards of beauty on ourselves.’'
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All women’s bodies are different, and all women face judgement based on their conformity to a particular, yet non-existent, ‘normal’ female body type. Day to day life offers no escape from this image policing that we all suffer from. Too fat, too thin, too tall or short, images of celebrities shamed under the circle of doom on magazines, and yet no female body is as scrutinised and excluded - even within ‘feminist’ circles - as the transgender female body.
than to ‘blend in’ with cis women, to ‘pass as (cis) female’ and must be ashamed of her trans-ness.
These misconceptions are sadly held by many cis feminists, and should be considered anti-feminist and challenged. There is no ‘normal female body’; there is not ‘male and female genitalia’, a misconception affecting men and women, as well as non-binary people, and there is no single way in which women ‘should’ present themselves. To suggest that there is, and that trans women must adhere to this mode, is clearly both misogynistic From an obsession with the bodily changes that all and transmisogynistic, regulating not only the trans women are expected to experience, such as trans female body, but the cis female body as well. major surgeries and hair removal, to an outright exclusion from women’s spaces by TWEFs (Trans Women Exclusionary Feminists) based on misguided ‘biological’ claims, the trans woman’s body faces constant attacks, is often made a joke of by the world around them, and to these particular exclusionary feminists, is something to demean and destroy. It seems ironic that there are some feminists who are opposed to most forms of bodypolicing, and yet heavily police (if not entirely exclude) the trans female body. The image that has been created of trans women, based on the medicalisation of trans-ness, is the ‘good trans woman’. She quietly seeks medical treatment to ‘correct’ herself, because the body she was born into does not fit this false standard of the ‘female body’ and is therefore wrong. Trans women must consider themselves a ‘mistake’ and ‘less than’ any other woman. She is told she is considered ‘male’ without having (or sometimes even with having) any kind of surgical intervention. The ‘good trans woman’ must want nothing more 4
the TRANS BODY ISSUE
By Amy Gilliatt
#transbeauty
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FAT SHAMING: Gabourey
Sidibe Reclai
“I got made fun of at school, I got made fun of at home too, my older brother hated me, my dad just didn't understand me, and my mom, who had been a fat girl at my age herself, understood me perfectly ... but she berated me because she was so afraid of what she knew was to come for Within Feminism there are certain times women me.”
need to lend themselves as allies to others, and support an oppression that we may not ourselves experience. Fat shaming, and the global oppression and degradation of larger women is a prime example of this. One of the most prominent aspects of global media is the misogynistic analysis of women’s bodies, seen as objects for ridicule and mockery, and this transfers into society making it a norm to judge women’s bodies and appearances. Although all body shapes, sizes and types face this discrimination, fat shaming is one which we most routinely see, and has such a devastating effect.
“Gabourey, how are you so confident?" “It's not easy. It's hard to get dressed up for award shows and red carpets when I know I will be made fun of because of my weight.” Gabourey Sidibe, actress and star of Precious (2009) and American Horror Story (2013-2014), is no stranger to direct abuse and harassment in regards to her body, and shows no shame in calling this out and fighting for her right to exist as she wants to. Her inspirational speech at the Ms. Foundation Gala gave a chance for the voices of large women to be heard, without being spoken over. She gives an insight into her life and the oppression that she faces as a larger woman, unashamed of her confidence, showing the world that fat and beautiful are within the same sentence, you can be and are both- a lesson we should not have to be told. 6
Image sources: 1) www.redcarpet-fashionawards.com 2) www.people.com 3) www.justjared.com
iming the Right to be Confident “Twitter will blow up with nasty comments about how the recent earthquake was caused by me running to a hot dog cart or something. And "Diet or Die?" [She gives the finger to that] This is what I deal with every time I put on a dress. This is what I deal with every time someone takes a picture of me. Sometimes when I'm being interviewed by a fashion reporter, I can see it in her eyes, "How is she getting The devastating effects of away with this? Why is she so society’s hatred and berating confident? How does she deal of larger women can be felt with that body? Oh my God, I'm going to catch fat!"" through generations. Women are conditioned to believe that the bigger their dress size, the less their worth, that they cannot be happy unless they lose weight and conform to the false ideal. We use ‘skinny’ as a compliment, and ‘fat’ is an insult. We say ‘you look so great!’ to a woman who has lost weight, when we did not say it before. Fat shaming is its own form of misogyny. Jokes of larger women being of less worth to men are not jokes at all, the long running humour of going with ’the fat one’ as ‘taking one for the team’ tell a generation of women they are the joke. They are not human, and unless they lose weight they are not allowed to be happy. A right to be human and a right to be happy should not be awarded after you pass a certain weight goal.
“So when you ask me how I'm so confident, I know what you're really asking me: how could someone like me be confident? Go ask Rihanna, asshole!” 7
Written by Kayleigh Hardy, message and quotes by Gabourey Sidibe.
FEM NEWS: Emma Watson
the SPEECH It is no new phenomenon that men find themselves pigeon -holed within an encroaching role which tells them not to feel. This discourse is already decades old; you can find exploration of social injustices like this way back in Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber, written in 1979.
But the content of Watson's speech is not unprecedented. It is no secret that young women often find themselves discouraged from taking active leadership roles. It is no revelation that not one country in the world can boast equal opportunities for its people.
conversation, so much debate and a great deal of publicity. Perhaps it will encourage others to consider their own egocentric stance on the plight for gender equality just as she has publicly and increase those participting, whether in their own sphere or more widely. It's a step, but will by no means achieve the end result.
Furthermore, the UN is supposed to be representative, particularly of those people who don't have a voice. Why, then, choose a speaker who is so remote from millions of people due to her class, race, sexual orientation and I do not, in any way, wish to criticise Em Watz herself. She culture? Why focus on issues resembling her experience, rather than giving centre stage to pertinent, wider world is a powerful, brave and influential figure who gives a damn. She should be celebrated on these points. She has issues such as FGM, child marriage, women caught in gang violence? When the UN speak, people listen - so why the potential to mobilise a generation, and with over 188,000 pledge taking men on the HeForShe website to not open up the discussion to LGBTQ, BME, disabled communities rather than allowing another prolific white date, I am emboldened by the fact the one woman has figure to offer up liberation on a silver platter to engaged so many in the movement from all over the world. She asks of herself and others: “If not now, when? everyone yet again? If not me, who?” It's positive that Watson's has provoked so much
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http://www.gossipcop.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/EmmaWatsonHeForShe-253x300.jpg
In recent weeks, her voice is the one most talked about the speech went immediately viral and millions sat up and listened; I am, of course, referring to Emma Watson's monumental launch of the UN's HeForShe campaign. As Goodwill Ambassador, Watson gave an elegant, emotive and deeply personal speech with a salient message; the mobilisation and inclusion of men in the “conversation” of gender equality. Feminism, it seems, has been added to the world's agenda.
By Beth Searby
FEM NEWS: The Zine does:
RECLAIM the NIGHT Members of the Women’s Network, UoN Feminists, and hundreds of other women gathered on Saturday 1st November at Forest Recreation Ground for the annual ‘Reclaim the Night’ protest walk. The walk, organised by the Nottingham Feminist Action Network (NFAN), saw women chanting in unison, and sporting placards to raise awareness and protest against violence against women. Onlookers were brought to a standstill as the protest made its way through the town centre, where the walk culminated at the Town Hall Square in several speeches from representatives of the Nottingham’s Women’s Centre, Hollaback Nottingham amongst others, and a powerful poem from a survivor of sexual abuse. The protest was incredibly empowering as women came together to demonstrate their power and use their voice. For more information or to get involved in stewarding next year’s walk contact the Nottingham Women’s Centre or NFAN. One message to take from the protest? “Women united will never be defeated!” 9
By Amelia Bauer
Images: top, left: http://claresphotospace.wordpress.com/; bottom: Nottingham Post
STRONG
Sexy
IS THE NEW Body image is subjective; it’s all about what you personally value. For some people, seeing the photoshopped Victoria’s Secret models is their measure of what an ideal body is. This is problematic as for most, this shape is genetically unattainable, and any attempt to pursue this figure will just leave you miserable, and probably very hungry. For me, my body confidence comes not from what my body looks like, but from what it can do. This is no doubt a reflection of having spent a lifetime doing martial arts, where your merit as an athlete is completely down to how you perform. In fact, our unflattering white Gis reinforce that your worth is measured by your ability, not your looks, and certainly not your body shape. I’ve grown up surrounded by strong women whose sole body worry is how well it will allow them to perform in training.
“Your worth is measured by The body hang ups I deal with don’t derive from your ability, not your looks” not having a figure which appeases the
mainstream Western media’s idea of what we should look like, but from my body not doing the things I want it to; from not having strong enough legs to do that hook kick I’ve always wanted to use, from not having enough of a bicep to carry on battering the punching bag, from not having a developed enough core to keep a stable posture at competitions, from not being quick enough to escape the range of my attacker. This is especially true when I know that a few more reps at the gym would solve it all, because these are very achievable aims. 10
Of course, this is, and should be, all relative to our own individual goals and own abilities as not everyone is ablebodied or has the same capabilities. Even so, setting yourself tiny achievable targets will give you a much greater sense of body confidence than any other measure. Jessica Ennis-Hill, Serena Williams, Gina Carano, Kelly Gallagherthese women have worked hard for their bodies. They may not have the proportions that Vogue and Elle would suggest are ideal, but their muscular physiques and personal achievements in the face of adversity are infinitely attractive.
Yasmin in actio
n
I hear about far too many women avoiding the male-dominated weights room in the gym because they’re told that it’s “unfeminine” to have muscles, or that if they become too strong it’ll deter men away. We as women have got this deep-seated image in our heads that we must be slim and small and petite and dainty, so as not to emasculate the opposite sex. It’s probably because of my involvement in a mixed-gendered sport, where we’re regularly paired up with guys in fights, but I’ve always thought women CAN be attractive and strong- you can have it all!
“Em
brace y Be confident in your strength, tear him apart in an arm wrestle, and our be unapologetic when you win; embrace your power. Nothing breaks my heart more than when a woman gives up sports because she thinks she’s developing too much definition, so for goodness sake get yourself into that weights room and let’s claim this space!
power!”
Once we start setting ourselves attainable targets for what our bodies can do and work towards these rather than measuring our worth on what our bodies look like and comparing it to very unrealistic images, womankind will finally have found true body confidence.
“Be unapologetic” 11
Written by Yasmin Talsi, President of UoN Karate Club
Unless you spent your summer break blissfully 'finding yourself’ on a remote Thai beach, you undoubtedly found yourself witness to the unavoidable ‘nude celebrity photo leak’. Hundreds of celebrities were victim to phone hacking scandals in which their private, intimate images were stolen and uploaded for the world to critique. The vast majority of those leaked were female, and a considerably large amount showed these women in particularly vulnerable moments. The public response was
unsettling and rather predictable with many choosing to circulate the images and make suggestive and explicitly sexual comments. All this begs the question: at what point did these women choose to have their bodies become public property? Does fame and status now warrant complete intrusion into every aspect of their life?
Alarmingly, it is not just female celebrities who are at risk of such a crime, evident by the increasingly popular ‘revenge porn’ popping up all over the internet. These sites allow people (more often than not, the vengeful ex-lover), to upload images of sexual partners for the world to subject to ruthless criticism. Just as the celebrity nude leaks did, these sites reinforce dangerous social attitudes towards sex. It’s obviously worth noting that the victims of such sites are overwhelmingly female. Social convention seems to consider men having sex as commonplace and ‘natural’. However, women’s sexuality is often held up as degrading and comes hand in hand with a big, fat ‘SLUT’ label.
12Images: Top Right: Bakersfeildnow.com, Top Left: Buisnessinsider.com
Do these women deserve this public shaming for taking overtly sexual photographs? Are women to suppress all sexual desire in order to prevent their status as a ‘good girl’ from being tarnished? Many responded to the leaks and such websites by arguing that the pictures should have never been taken. Perhaps so. However, people throughout time have shared intimate things together that would be publically embarrassing. It is blatant blame-shifting to condemn the victim for taking the photographs whilst we live in a society that places such a high emphasis on sex; it is as though we are telling women they cannot expect to be sexual without consequence, as though the hackings serve as a reminder to put women in their place. The fact of the matter is, people are stealing these women’s intimate moments and turning them into sexual entertainment. There are loads of women consensually sharing their bodies on the internet; but this is clearly an enjoyment at seeing them violated. These hacks and sites seem to me to have an explicit purpose to shame, a reminder to women that they should not be sexual or it will be used against them. This is an incredibly dangerous message we are sending to women everywhere and it needs to be fought against. Women, do not be ashamed of your body. Your body is more than just an object of desire. Be confident and comfortable with your own sexuality. Choose to express it anyway you deem fit because sex does not define you.
Images: Top: eonline.com, Middle top: eonline.com, Middle bottom: wallruru.com, Bottom: people.com. 13
By Rebecca Marano
Meghan Trainer, Nicki Minaj, a
I’m sure many of you will have heard the songs ‘Anaconda’ by Nicki Minaj and ‘All About That Bass’ by Meghan Trainor, both singing about their bootylicious bodies and plus size posteriors. I am all for empowering women and encouraging them to accept and be proud of their female form. But why in order to empower one ‘type’ of woman do we need to degrade and ridicule the other? Is a ‘large’ vs ‘skinny’ mentality really benefitting women? Trainor has claimed in an interview with Billboard that she is not a feminist, choosing her message to be simply that of loving your body, expressed through lyrics such as ‘My Momma she told me don’t worry about your size’. However, the song is not consistent in portraying this message, with Trainor going on to claim ‘I’m bringing booty back, go ahead and tell them skinny bitches that’. Not only does Trainor refer to skinny women in a negative way, she also appears to suggest that body positivity is solely for the male benefit, stating ‘boys like a little more booty to hold at night’. As a result, Trainor appears to equate female selfacceptance to appreciation from men and ignores all the other reasons girls should love themselves. Similarly, Minaj, although a feminist, claims in her song ‘fuck you if you skinny bitches’. It is clear that whilst claiming to empower women these songs in fact segregate and isolate girls with a smaller, skinnier build. It appears to suggest that if one body type is good, the other must be bad.
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Image source: Hitthefloor.com
and the rise of Skinny Shaming
Perhaps these songs are an extreme reaction to the photo shopping society in which we live, where unrealistic standards of beauty are idealised, concepts which Trainor touches on in her lyrics, ‘I see them magazines workin’ that photo shop, we know that shit ain’t real, c’mon now make it stop’. It cannot be ignored that skinny women are praised by society while larger women face a harsh oppression that thin women do not. Therefore I want to implore that all women should be confident in their body size, regardless of what that might be. I’m all for ‘bringing booty back’ provided it’s not at the expense of those ‘skinny bitches’.
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By Emily Hutchinson
Monday 17th November
Wednesday 19
Workshop: White Beauty Standards and Body Confidence LG13, Trent, 1-2pm Reel Film Equality Presents: Lemon Tree
Workshop: Ge Body Confide 12-1pm.
New
Art Exchange, 7.30pm, £5 advance tickets.
Drop-in Crea
Join us to write monologues, impr theme of ‘body c Portland, 6-9pm.
Body Confidence Tuesday 18th November
Body Confidence Art Competition and Exhibition Atrium, 12-4pm Body Confidence Yoga E127, Portland, 5-6pm, £1 entry.
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Ev
organis Wo Netw UoN F
Friday 21st November
9th November
nder Norms and nce C27, Portland,
Workshop: Men and Body Confidence E127, Portland, 1-2pm.
Body Confidence Party Celebrate the end of Body Confidence Week with a poetry slam/feminist playlist extravaganza! Venue/ Time TBC.
tivity Session
e poetry, lyrics, rov skits on the confidence’. E125, .
Week Timetable Thursday 20th November
vents
sed by the omen’s work and Feminists.
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Workshop: Ableism and Body Confidence LG11, Trent, 2-3pm.
Speed Confidence
A similar
format to speed dating but in a selfdefining women only space. Meet other girls and highlight the positive things about each other and boost your confidence. C11, Portland, 7.30pm.
Inner Beauty
and
The Individual Self-awareness begins at such a young age now, with children under five worrying about their appearance, influenced by school uniforms that conform to gender norms and parents establishing a sense of selfconsciousness early on. Everywhere you look, popular culture is bombarding us with a collective ideal and dominating everyday life through all types of media. We are constantly forced to evaluate our appearance negatively, which ultimately lowers our self-esteem. The saddest thing? Most of the time we don’t even know we’re being attacked. Can we really place the blame solely on our society though, when we have the power to define and decide for ourselves?
reflection of what’s inside, then opposite, mocking the “heartfelt” confidence-boost, is a health regime to make you look like the skinny celebrities you envy. Dieting and exercise advice is great for those who feel better using them, but weren’t you just saying, a few centimetres to the left, that I should be proud of my uniqueness and not be pressured to make drastic changes? Wouldn’t it be even better to maintain focus on the person as an individual, on their talents and achievements, rather than how they look?
Is it really confidence in the body or in the self that makes us feel at our best? I am not by any means criticising anyone for caring how they look, but am urging them to feel Rather than changing the focus, however, their appearance reflects the pride they people attack the “trend”. Those with eating should have in themselves as a person. We disorders or naturally high metabolisms are should be able to look however we like, being targeted as “too skinny”, whilst those baggy T or low-cut mini, and not be criticised at the opposite of the scale are equally for making too much effort or mocked for criticised. Both genders are slated for not not caring enough. If you lift your selfcaring enough AND for caring too much. esteem, in any way you can, that pride will Either direction is abusive. This is not helped shine through. Beauty is individual, not by the hypocrisy present in magazines; one collective, and happiness exists when you page discusses being proud of your look as a define your own body’s beauty. 18
By Hannah Higgins
She tried so hard to be an hourglass. It was what they wanted. She perfectly sculpted her fragile figure into a perfect curve.
They marvelled and remarked at her beauty but the weight was too much. She split. She cracked. The perfect curve Shattered. Sand spilt everywhere. Glass splinters glinting on the ground. They said it was a tragedy. To see her in pieces. Gone was her glorious figure. The golden, the gorgeous.
She was happier as sand.
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by Louise Croft
They lamented But the truth was
Hourglass
http://shutupandwearit.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/hourglass-figure.jpg
Two glass orbs connected delicately.
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