Body Image Redefined

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To thine own self be true.

…a line from Act 1 Scene 3 of William Shakespeare’s HAMLET where a father is giving sage advice to his son. It is an apt title for our project and some excellent advice.

We are programmed, to different degrees, to believe that beauty is a definition that we either resemble… or that we don’t. The ramifications of this belief are profound.

We grow up being told by our families, friends and supported by the media:

  • that we are beautiful,
  • or we grow up knowing that we are average looking as compared to the ideal of beauty
  • or we feel, we are lead to believe, we might have been told in so many words, in so many ways, that we are NOT beautiful, BUT WE ARE SMART... a saving grace.

Who gets to say what beauty is? We do – for ourselves.
It is not the $200 jeans, or the plastic surgery, or the size double 0, or the full lips – it is not, likely, any of those things.

Allow me to relate a very short story...
I am sitting on the outside patio of a restaurant on College Street on a busy Thursday evening on one of the hot days of mid-summer. People are out, strolling, laughing, talking, cycling.

A woman walked by and many eyes were fixed on her. This woman did not have fabulous clothes, a perfect body nor was she the commonly held benchmark of beauty… and yet there was a WOW! around her. She was confident, and she walked tall, and she felt beautiful and she was indeed beautiful. She felt beautiful. Feeling beautiful is the same as being beautiful. We do not require validation to be beautiful.

The women who participated in this project are beautiful on so many different levels. They trusted, they projected, they related, and they shared a desire to make their photographs be about YOU.

There are no eyes in these photographs, there are no names attached to each image and writing. It is my hope that you will look at these strong shoulders, backs, feet and everything in between and think about the beauty of your own body.

A word here about Sheena's Place. The proceeds from the sale of this book and the set of five greeting cards will go to Sheena's Place. Sheena’s Place supports people and their families who are suffering from Eating Disorders, an often fatal illness. Sheena’s also raise awareness about eating disorders in our schools. Eating disorders can originate from an unkind or thoughtless word directed to a young boy or girl...perhaps, on a school bus or on the playground... something about looking fat or lumpy or both.

Eating disorders can be classified as a societal disease perpetuated by all the messages and destructive beliefs that surround us. This is my much simplified definition.

It is time to consider different concepts of beauty and to engage our sons and daughters in these discussions.

I have come to believe that we do not need external validation to be beautiful. Feeling beautiful is the same as being beautiful. Let this powerful idea into your mind - stand up straight and tall. You are beautiful.

Welcome to our project – Body Image Redefined.

We hope that this book begins a dialogue about beauty and body image, in your family, with your friends, in your workplace.

Three ways to participate in this project:

  1. Share your ideas about body image – using the same questions we began our dialogue with for this project. See page 59 in the book. Your responses will not be published without your express permission. One reply will be drawn every four months to win a photograph of YOU or one of the images from this project framed.
  2. Photographic prints [13” x 19”] from this project are available for purchase. A framed photo is $300. Please email Nora directly to order [ncamps@duo.ca].
  3. Books and greeting cards are available for sale online – please visit www.noraspicks.com and click on the BODY IMAGE REDEFINED banner.

Thank you for your interest and support.
Nora
ncamps@duo.ca