Three minutes (or a week) of real beauty

I love that this week is Fat Talk Free Week, an international campaign to bring activism and awareness to the damage the skinny ideal has on all of us, and particularly on women. I think it's more than good, it is critical, to set aside the fat-assery and self-deprication and be a part of a bigger cause to help girls and women live freer, richer, more authentic lives.

The interwoven issues of body image, eating disorders and the media representation of women have been at the center of academic, professional and personal lives for as long as I can remember. Still, I do not dare calculate the minutes, hours, painstaking time periods I've spent worrying about my size, stretch marks, and tiny details of my body. Nearly every woman I have ever roomed with had an active eating disorder. Almost every woman I have ever known has struggled with negative body image. Most of the parents I know worry about how they will raise their daughters and sons to be impervious -- or victorious -- in the ongoing challenges of being healthy and feeling good without anxiety, abuse, addiction, misperception, depression, and self-hatred. It's hard. What could we do if we harnessed all the energy that goes into pursuing unattainable and ridiculous ideals? I suppose that, with luck and commitment, this week we shall see.

I'm going to be a part of this campaign. And I am going to start by posting this video (via Guy Kawasaki -- thank you) of 500 years of portraits of women in less than three minutes. It is haunting and beautiful. It made me want to cry. And paint. And tell my grrrlfriends how beautiful they are. What I see here is mostly in the eyes, and I loved that. I loved focusing in right there.

In the interest of fueling creativity, passion, empowerment, a few minutes of some true beauty, please watch.

Comments

[viola]

It's beautiful, but...

was pretty much every single painting of a white woman?