body

Feminism demands a future free of fat shaming, body obsession and the male gaze.

Beautiful Silence
As she laid there cold and numb fighting the moon to close her eyes. Feeling the hay, mold into her back, as she is thrusted up and down, not taking her eyes off the moon, in hopes the moon could save her or the tree, maybe one star, just one. Her eyes swelled up like fountains about to overflow, as the tears fell down the side of her face they left a cold trail to her ears and further down to her throat. She felt a piece of her soul breaking, spirit leaving. Her innocence ripped from her chest down to underwear. Not comprehending what was happening but very much felt the hate, the evil of what was being done to her. She could not fight it, the power of evil was far too great. So she chose the moon, glared at it as her memories of running through the fields and picking flowers faded, smelling vanilla through the house as her mom had a cake coming out of the oven, all the things that brought her joy emptied, her smile gone. The thrusting stops, she hears the barn door open and close. It's cold and wet between her legs as if she wet herself, she could not feel a thing she couldn't even move. She felt as if an elephant had been on her crushing her, leaving her there to die. Her heart is thumping out of her chest, her breathing is slowing down. She looks to the beautiful moon and the silent night sky, the stars become blurry as it all blends together and fills with darkness. She falls into a sleep.
By Paloma5 years ago in Viva
The Book That Saved My Life
Darkness overcame my heart the day that I was raped. The girl I used to be all those years ago is long gone. For a number of years, that felt like the worst thing to me. Feeling like you are giving up on yourself when you have no control is a scary process. Tears would overflow almost daily. Many days I would ask myself why he hadn't just killed me. Other days I would long for it. Then one day came that changed everything for me.
By The Darkest Sunrise5 years ago in Viva
Do You Hate Me for Not Pressing Charges?
Dear fellow survivors, There’s no question about it — it was aggravated sexual assault. It was pre-meditated. The exact categorization of the assault is probably attempted rape.
By Gillian Sisley5 years ago in Viva
A letter to my body
I am well. I have a body; I am living. I have a mind; I am thinking. The mind does not relent. There are lungs in my chest that expand and fill to sustain me. There is a heart nestled between them that constricts to force life into me.
By Sophia dos Remedios5 years ago in Viva
Sexed but not Sexy
This essay will demonstrate how the pregnant body is both deeply personal whilst being subject to intense public scrutiny. The physical space that a pregnant body occupies in public, and the visibility of something that is deemed to be private, puts growing attention on the expectant mother. A sense of public responsibility for a future citizen (Luce, 1996) forces upon her unwanted opinions and expectations. For the purpose of this essay, the term ‘public’ is treated as interchangeable with the word ‘political’, because it is referring to the everyday politicisation of bodies that makes them public. (Jamie, 2020) For a more in-depth analysis, it will ignore the medicalisation of the pregnant body; the medical surveillance placed on women by midwives and other health professionals. Instead, it will focus on cultural scrutiny, in the form of prying relatives, acquaintances and strangers (Dwyer, 2006) feeling the right to place judgment on the pregnant woman. It will consider the patriarchal environment in which this right to ownership of the female body has been cultivated and worsened by the influence of the media. Drawing upon the routine sexualisation of women in the media, this essay will demonstrate the binary expectations of female sexuality. Within this narrow discourse, it will question the whereabouts of pregnant women. Why it is suddenly unacceptable and wrong for a pregnant body to be ‘sexy’, despite having been ‘sexed’ (Dwyer, 2006). How do pregnant women straddle this ‘Madonna-Whore Dichotomy’ and what implications does this have for the woman and her partner? It will also question this in the context of pornography. Lastly, there will be an examination of how some celebrities have shown both their maternal and sexual pregnant bodies, and in doing so have liberated themselves and other women from the binary categories that they could have fallen in to.
By Daisy Shepherd-Cross5 years ago in Viva
Reclaiming a Lost Virginity
Xxxxxt, Finally, I’ve mastered the courage to confront you, to tell my story, to reclaim my virginity. Let’s travel back to Winter Ball, Freshman year in High School.
By Stanzi Hope Wellington5 years ago in Viva
All Women are QUEENS!!
Dear beloved readers, Because society is so bent on this ideal body image, we need to stop comparing ourselves and others to those who are more skinny. First of all, that is damaging to women and men alike. When they, having been told to look a certain way, diet, exercise, get on weight loss medications, chances are they have been told that through the advertisements, tv, the radio, and magazines since the age of four or five. Society in the Western Hemisphere has been pushing this certain weight, hight, skin type, hair type, eye color, and other things that promote toxic beauty standards. Chances are that young girls and women, and also boys and men, already feel insecure.
By Sunny Dolen5 years ago in Viva
I trusted you.
When you begin thinking you are no longer safe around your own family is when you need to speak up. When you begin questioning your worth.
By AD5 years ago in Viva
Breast Reduction Surgery Healed My Soul
I have always had big boobs. I was THAT girl starting in middle school. Before I had even experienced my first kiss, I heard a rumor in the 7th grade that I had given a bj in a school bathroom. I was sexually harassed by boys (and girls slut-shaming a virgin) just because to most people, big boobs = promiscuous. I was even sexually harassed by a female teacher.
By Ellen Shockey5 years ago in Viva
I Thought it was Just a Party
It’s Friday night, I was 16. My friends invited me out to a party and I was itching to get out, so I agreed. We had planned on drinking so we didn’t want to drive ourselves. A mutual friend had offered to give us a ride to the party, and back home. We thought that was a good idea and we could all have fun together without having to worry since we had a “responsible” designated driver.
By honey 5 years ago in Viva
Get your religion out of my vagina!
I am writing in the hopes of being heard. I do not aim to attack; only to respect all and express my thoughts. I only want to understand why another’s pain trumps not only my pain, but the pain of over 600,000 women a year - because we are all human and deserve love and compassion. This is very personal topic for me, and I’d like to share my perspective. I’d also like to add why pro-life beliefs are harmful and hurtful to people like me.
By Adrianne Williams5 years ago in Viva
Female Sexuality Can't Be Defined So Easily
One thing's certain, it's impossible to generalize female sexuality in blanket terms. Women desire sex in different ways, at different rates, and the amount of sex that any given woman wants in her lifetime can also fluctuate wildly.
By Elle Silver5 years ago in Viva