City University of New York Body Image Meeting Saturday

I went and it was good. It was the first such event there and could have been organized better. For instance, in the schedule, people were not listed in the order they would speak for each room. Some did not show; that happens, I guess. The very last speech was a little too post modern for me. Lectures encompassed everything from disability to [a lot on] pressure on women to be thin.

An interesting questions was raised in a room: To what extent are we free to have the body WE want. I talk about this in early blog posts. First comes health, then look like you want, and don't try to look like anyone else. (You probably won't anyway.) We can pose similar questions like to what extent are we free to be ourselves, have the life we want, etc. People stressed how women are supposed to be thin, even in an unhealthy way, or way where they are pre-pubescent or pubescent, like some Macy's commercials in New York City I see lately. One woman did a study where she showed breast implants to women in Senegal and they thought they were atrocious. They'd come here if they had money to talk sense into us. they believed women, especially mothers, should let their natural breasts be, even without a bra. Many Western women, asked why they wear a bra, had no answer. (That is another discussion.)

I believe in the natural look myself: hourglass for women, and toned for men if you can have it.

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