Jonathen Livingston Seagull

My favourite book in the world is " Jonathen Livingston seagull" by Richard Bach. Here are some quotes that I believe apply to this projects subject.

“Your whole body, from wingtip to wingtip," Jonathan would say, other times, "is nothing more than your thought itself, in a form you can see. Break the chains of your thought, and you break the chains of your body, too.”
― Richard Bach, Jonathan Livingston Seagull


“Don’t believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show is limitation. Look with your understanding. Find out what you already know and you will see the way to fly.”
― Richard Bach, Jonathan Livingston Seagull

“You have the freedom to be yourself, your true self, here and now, and nothing can stand in your way".”
― Richard Bach, Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Such a great and wise story.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jonathan-Livingston-Seagull-Richard-Bach/dp/817223578X

More drawings.

As before I will tell you that I am not a good drawer but I do my best. Hope you like them...

Also I have not posted a lot recently, me and my body are going through a strange time and I'm not sure how to react to it. But I think it will give me good material in hindsight. Please if you have any reactions or stories about your body's that you would like to express in any way, know that this is a forum for you to do so, just get in touch and I will help you.

Cheers and just be jammin with yourself

Donzo x

P.s I am taking a life drawing class in January so the quality of the sketches may improve you never know ;)

A charcoal drawing

Myself: modified.

Hello everyone. So my first post in a while but I assure its the first of many new posts to come.

I want to look at body modification over the next few weeks. I am curious as to the psychology behind it. be it every day modifications like dying and cutting hair and wearing make up, to genital piercing and branding. Body modification is something which of coarse includes females and males and although I would love to here from, and include male opinion (men feel free to get involved) I may focus more on females just because of the nature of my blog.

I myself I suppose rank fairly low in the body modification spectrum ( if such a thing should exist). I have no piercings or tatoo's, I have never had any cosmetic surgery but I do paint my nails, dye my hair and wear make up.

I want to hear and photograph everyone and anyone and here about any modifications (permanent or temporary) you have made or make daily. I don't know if we will draw any conclusions but hopefully in the end we will have created an artistic documentation of what we have modified and why we did it and most importantly how we feel about it.

There is no judgement here. Different strokes for different folks and all that.

Bring on variety it is the spice of life after all...

Here is a pic of me as un-modified as I can be, and one of me after a swift bit of modification. I know which one is more socially acceptable but I'm not sure which one I'm happiest with .

Summer Sanity

A video entry about me and my legs and how i think we can maybe help peoples body confidence ...

Let the sun shine in :)

Current plans

Hello, Everyone.

I’m very sorry about how distant I have been lately but I can assure you the project is a huge part of my life, and is always in my mind.

There are some exciting opportunities for the project on the horizon. This weekend I am going to Flare festival in Manchester I am volunteering at the festival and I hope to do a little networking and generate international interest in the project, as well as trying to get some more familiar faces involved. Also I am a co-founding member of performance group I Like Game Show. We are touring a couple of our shows this summer and autumn and at all performances of Get Your Rags On We’re Going To The Circus there will be a small flesh blood and female installation, and I will be there to spread the word of the project. I’m really excited and I will post up dates of performances where the project will have a presence. Of coarse if your reading this, please follow the blog and spread the word, this project is everyone’s I just contribute and over see it. The More the Merrier J.

http://www.facebook.com/FracturedFusion

https://twitter.com/#!/I_Like_Gameshow

http://www.flarefestival.com/

http://twitter.com/#!/flarefestival

p.s Remember if you want to get in touch with me my email is on my profile.donnamyoung.89@gmail.com

follow me on twitter https://twitter.com/#!/fleshbloodfem

and on facebook http://www.facebook.com/FleshBloodAndFemale

TV TONIGHT :)

Tonight is an exciting night for the blog as featured Flesh Blood and Female supporter Lizzie will be in tonight's C4 documentary My Big Fat Fetish.  The show looks very interesting and is now doubt relevant to this project. Remember This is a project for all things concerning the female form and all are welcome to get in touch and or get involved in what ever way you wish.
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/my-big-fat-fetish/episode-guide/series-1/episode-1

A Hairy Issue

The link below is what inspired this entry please have a watch. 

http://www.itv.com/thismorning/life/hairy-women-debate/

So I shave. I am not a hairy woman, I am not hairless and always smooth but I do de-fluff my pits, flower and legs roughly twice a week. Why? I honestly don’t know. Its one of those things that if you are a British woman you just do. I remember my first shave like my first bra. I remember my mum pointing out that I had some hair under my arms when I was about 11 and being instantly ashamed and desperate to shave the hairs off.

It’s the done thing I guess, if you’re a woman you have lively well-kept head hair and you get rid of your body hair and pretend it does not exist. I’m sure most women will agree body hair is a pain in there arse, we have it all over us and I fell like it’s a constant friggin chore. You shave, it feels lovely for all of five minutes then you are like a walking sheet of sand paper till you choose to shave again. Or maybe you are a brave sister and you wax, the results are better and last longer but it is expensive and bloody painful (especially in one particular area). Maybe you epilate or use cream who knows, all good methods. I wonder though if there are any women reading this who don’t do any of these things who just let there natural body hair run its coarse.

A couple of years ago whilst at university a friend had an idea for a project entitled “Un-hinged Minge” J. We were going to leave our pubes to flourish for six months at least documenting their growth and our experiences and then shave them of and make art with them. HAHA love it! So when faced with this idea my first worry was my sex life. Then my second thought was won’t It make me smelly as for some reason I thought that one of the reasons women shaved was for hygiene reasons, when in fact I don’t think that is true I’m pretty sure its purely for aesthetics.

My story with shaving is quite a simple one I always shaved my legs and armpits since puberty always it was just what girls did, but I only started shaving my vagina when I became sexually active, I think it was because I just thought that men expected women to have no hair down there when of coarse that is simply not true.

Hair in women can be a huge cause of low self-confidence, there are conditions such as polycystic ovarian syndrome witch can cause quite excessive hair on females that shatter the confidence of many women young and old. And women as they get older and reach menopause often experience facial hair, and many have painful cosmetic treatments to try and rid them of it.

The truth is hair is an absolutely natural part of our anatomy. Fine hair covers all of our body but It seems that women in Britain, America and no doubt countless other countries are given no choice about keeping there body hair tidy and in may cases at a bare minimum unless they want to be viewed as hippies, dirty, freaks or one of those bloody feminists. I think shaving ect has become learned behavior and in the past twenty years pubic hair has had almost as many trends associated to it as the hair we primp and preen on our heads. I must admit I feel much better with hairless legs hairless armpits and controlled hair growth on my lady bits. I do not think I would like to be a truly natural woman, but I don’t know, I think I would like my daughters to have a choice. Hopefully we will one day get to a situation where it’s a choice for a young girl and she does not automatically feel that all body hair that is not in vogue must be pulled out or cut off.

I remember watching this documentary a couple of years ago now. Its well worth a watch. I found some of the self worth placed on something as small as body hair very worrying. Its another obvious peice of evidence that there is far to much pressure on wimen to conform.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/hairy-women

Marina abramovic

Art must be beautiful, Artist must be beautiful.

What do you think?

Marina herself reflects on this 1975 performance saying that she thinks that art should not be beautiful it should be violent and disruptive. I dodn't know what I think. For this project I do hope to make beautiful art and photography from the female body and females testimonials, but that is not to say that the subjects them self's would say they were beautiful. The truth be told I believe art is an open book and no two people will ever take the same message from a piece. As an artist or curator you must accept you can only make the work in the way you want, and then put it out into the world to be endlessly re interpreted by the viewer. I guess the art is only yours for as long as the tools are in your hands.

you can only try your best ;)

So here are some of the sketches and bits and bobs I have done on the side. I have no formal training HAHA! still they are important to my thought process and the project and therefor important to your good selves. They were just taken on my phone as i don't have a camera at the moment, i will put higher quality images up when i can. :)

The Lovely Elizabeth

Hello everyone.

Here is a great new Flesh, Blood and female short film by Elizabeth. Elizabeth is a 25 year old BBW (Big Beautiful Woman) model known as Sailor Rose. She has a refreshing perspective on her body that I believe goes against what is preached to us and believed at this time. A big thank you to Lizzie. Watch, Think and Enjoy :)

The thing I liked best about Lizzie's video is this. I believe that today almost every woman in the stratosphere is on a journey to get their desired body, but Lizzie went on a journey to understand her body not to get anything. Maybe if we ladies who are always trying to change how we look to gain self acceptance put as much effort into getting to know and accepting the bodies we have and excepting the changes in our bodies we would feel a little better and more liberated. I think we would anyway, So cheers Lizzie I never thought about that before even though it seems so obvious.

Where I Stand

In writing and managing this blog and creating work to accompany it I am playing the role of an artist. A body artist, and If I am honest this is a title that makes me slightly uncomfortable because of the elitism co notated by the term ‘body art’ and possibly art in general. However I love body art especially the more extreme artists like Marina Abramovic and Franco B, they fascinate me, but I also love the relateable tone of other artists work take Bobby Baker for example.

 I would not have known about these artists were it not for my chosen degree and I think for many people the world of contemporary body art and performance seems unapproachable and completely irrelevant but that is not what I want my work to be. I want it to be fully inclusive of everyone no matter their knowledge or interests. We all have bodies and we all have trouble accepting that our bodies are normal, desirable and acceptable. I am trying to promote awareness and acceptance of the difference in female bodies and celebrate the problem area’s we have, and in a way shout FUCK YOU to the voices in society that we feel judge us but most importantly, to the voice in our heads that judges us daily.

I was very unsure of the pictures I published in my last post ‘Skuddy Buff’. I worried about their artistic merit, and also worried about the fact that when I jumped my tits went one way and my belly went the other. But after having a bit of time to reflect I really like the impression they give. I feel they are joyous and rebellious and it helped me to form a firmer artistic vision for my future photographs and work for the project. I love the idea and enjoyed the experience that you can be vulnerable and have really very little self-confidence but, fight through that, stick two fingers up, dance and except your self even just for a minute and just not care. I feel that that’s way the three of us felt in the shoot and if I may say I'm proud of the photos and hope they encourage others to get involved.

I would like my work to be able to be read by those looking at it as a piece of art and those who look at it as a photo of something that is rarely seen. I hope and believe my work has a place in the art world but ,I know it has a place in society in general which is what is most important to me.

In the book The Body in Contemporary Art the following is stated while discussing the painting: Matrix(1999)   by Jenny Saville,

Saville’s painted flesh describes an aesthetic of excess that is in turns abject and luscious, and mounts a direct attack on the demand for large, mortal and unruly bodies to be kept our of sight.

ON YOURSELF Ms Saville is my reaction!

I will fight that fight too. All bodies should be seen and accepted, everyone will still have preferences and there will always be the image and physique that is in vogue but lets just try to take the freak show out of anything that goes against the general acceptance and expectation of what a woman SHOULD look like.

http://www.franko-b.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_Abramović

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenny_Saville
http://www.bobbybakersdailylife.com/

Pageants Part 1. WORLD PEACE!

I wanted to do a thread on beauty pageants, as they are something we all know a little about. I bought a book the other day called Pageant: The Beauty Contest by Keith Lovegrove. I have been reading it and it got me thinking. I couldn’t see a better event to write about. This is project looking objectively at the female form. And I believe that female pageants no matter how unconventional parade the female body as spectacle.

A Bit Of History

Miss Great Britain and Miss World were both on television from the early 70’s and were seen as a big TV night in for a family, like the grand national or the Eurovision song contest. In the early 70’s the critiques of the pageant were not about, is it right to objectify women in this way but, were about what was proper. You know questions like was Miss Bournemouth’s dress to showy or is Miss Brightens skirt to short.

 However things seemed to change rather quickly towards the end of the 70’s –possibly due to the change in thinking at the time with the end of the tune in drop out!  hippie days and the beginning of the rebellious punk scene- people began to question the morality of parading those thought the most beautiful women in the country before panels, and judging them mainly on there looks. There were protests against pageants witch resulted in them vanishing from popular TV channels for quite some time.

By the early 1990’s the popularity of the pageant was at its height again, with miss world fetching huge audiences worldwide. In the book Lovegrove implies that it is the worlds fascination with beautiful woman and the spectacle of the females that allowed the pageant to go from strength to strength. The writer Sais that the again growing popularity of these famous pageants proved that politically incorrect ‘sexploitation’ was still very popular.

As you may have noticed the pageant is still a popular formula for entertainment today, especially in America but in Britain too. I just wonder why it is that they are so popular. What is it that makes people want to watch them? Is it just that people like to look at beautiful things, and the woman who take part in these events are judged the most beautiful in there region or country? Or is it the Big Brother fascination? The same thing that makes us watch show’s like America’s next top model, or read heat magazine.

Pageants are very exclusive events that pick the best or most appropriate people according to the criteria the pageant follows. And there for, I don’t know if they are a good thing. But I will speak more about that later.

There is a quote in the book from Denise Quinones who was crowned Miss Universe in 2001.  What I’m most proud of is that I had the chance during my reign to serve as a role model of ‘beauty’ truly is. It is something that can be appreciated only from with in oneself. It is not about how you look on the outside, but how you feel in your own skin that is the important message. It is about belief in yourself and in your confidence. It is not about having a beautiful face, but a beautiful soul that extends to others.” Now I thought this was a lovely quote, I was quite surprised. Then I got thinking, this is coming from a very beautiful woman who won a contest that only beautiful women can enter and win and for me that totally undermined what was said.

I believe pageants judge people mainly on their looks (although some would disagree with this). Now there are many different kinds of alternative pageants witch I will cover in the next section of this thread. Still, to me no matter what sort of pageant is up for discussion they all pigeon hole women in to a category in away, and I think there is enough insecurity in female body politics with out further segregating our self’s in to categories.

There will be further entries on this coming up. Part two will focus on the rebellion against traditional pageants, and the result of this. 

I Plead Temporary Insanity

Hello all,

So the following piece of writing is one that i did very much in the moment. i wrote it at i point where i felt truly awful about myself. it will probably read like a 16 year old's angst filled diary entry, but i will share it with you to show how volatile my relationship with my appearance is. today i feel ok, good even, I'm just me, i look like how i look everyday and I'm mostly ok with that but only a few days ago i felt like this:

As I write this I am watching super size vs super skinny on channel four, I watch it every week, and to be honest I don’t know why because every week it makes me feel the same way.  I’m sitting almost shaking with nerves, seeing my self in the very over weight people paraded in front of the camera in an almost freak show like manner. I see my reflection in every single one of them. I just think I look exactly the same. The more I watch the more nervous I get and it feels like my heart hurts. Then when they are introduced to there equally unhealthy counter parts I’m ashamed to say I am jealous f there flat stomachs and distinctive facial bones.

Its strange I know I am smaller than the very large subjects of this documentary, but I just see so much of me in them. I have my abscess like fold in my tummy where it meats my genitals. And I feel my large breasts heavy on my chest; my chin seems to be blowing up like a seaside dingy. The way I feel inside my skin changes so much in just this one hour this show runs.

Why do I feel like this? Its not rational. Today I ate well, I Had nice yummy food I enjoyed it, it was healthy. But I panic that the tuna salad I had for tea was to big and that maybe I shouldn’t have had two slices of toast at lunch that one would have sufficed.

This makes no sense because if you were to talk to me in my  more lucid moments I would say, ye him a bit fat, but if I just stabilised my weight I would be happy with the way I look…I think. Would I? Is it ok to be my size?

That’s what I wonder is it ok to be my size.  Well is it? Sadly that is a question only I can answer, but I don’t know I ever will, as clearly the question is less about biology and more about psychology.

It is embarrassing for me to write this because it seems so irrational and yet even as I read this back and smirk at how ridiculous it sounds in my heart I still feel like a little useless girl stuck in a monstrous body.   

I feel fine now, but its mad isn't it how some things we watch or read ect, can totally change our state of mind, even if only for a short time. I hope other people feel the same way sometimes haha! and that I'm not just very easily effected by things around me. i imagine as always many people can relate.

xx

A Blokes Perspective

Something i do not want to happen is for this project to exclude men. soooooo..... i have a blog post about the project to Share with you by a fellow called Andy "chainsaw" Blyth. He is a happily married 27 year old man from Scotland.

http://andychainsaw.tumblr.com/post/19485742029/body-issues-and-the-culture-of-objectivism

I think its important for man to be involved as often they are they ones who see most clearly how skewed our sight is when it comes to what we see in the mirror.

who know maybe in time i will start a project on the male body but until then us women would like to here our dangling counterparts thoughts opinions and idea's.

:)

Sam

Hello all, I hope the sun is shining where you are as Leeds is glorious J

Well today I present the first of many guest videos.  The previously featured artist Sam Jack has made her own video specifically for Flesh, Blood and Female. It’s a brief account of the story her body tells and how she reads herself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DekDFVJNpLg&feature=youtu.be

Thanks Sam.

As always feel free to comment react or relate to this video, you can email me at donnamyoung.89@gmail.com or join the facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/FleshBloodAndFemale

If this has inspired you to make a video please do! Everyone and anyone are welcome.

See and act

Hello all,

Well I have created a facebook page to accompany my blog. I think as more people become aware of this project and get involved this will be an easy forum to share ideas pictures, and so on.

http://www.facebook.com/FleshBloodAndFemale

Today I would like to share with you some work by Shetland based artist Samantha Jack.

When I saw these and read the small blurb I totally related as, like Sam, my main body issue is weight and its something I think about and try to manage daily. I think these images are powerful and will strike a chord with many woman in Britain and far beyond.

Sam's work is in the obsessions section of Issue 2 of Story Magazine witch begins on pge46 where she as a short description of  the work printed and her actual work is on pages 50 and 51 

http://issuu.com/storymag/docs/sm002_optv2/51#share

After seeing these images it made me think about my opinions and behaviour in relation to my main body issue and I made this video. I guess in a way this is an unconscious reaction to Sam Jacks images.

I feel the video is very personal. If I’m honest I was very nervous making it, and was unsure weather or not to share it. But I feel this is a very organic project and un-planned spontaneous pieces of work like this one are important.

I want to stress that this project is not about just weight issues its about all body issues affecting woman today. Soon I hope to share with you stories from other women covering a wide range of issues and topics. If you want to share your story or thoughts in any way, get in touch.

A big thank you to Samantha Jack for allowing me to share her work. Sam works around a variety of issues using different mediums. If you wish to look at her work in more depth visit this page:http://www.facebook.com/jamsackart  

MAG'S

Hello all

So I have started my line drawing project and it is going well (as well is a drawing can go when your not a talented drawer). I have also done a collage from some of my favorite fashion and lifestyle publications.  Specifically company which I buy religiously and Marie Claire, which I flirt with on occasion.

Company is a publication, which I imagine, is aimed at 18 to 25 year olds and I would imagine that Marie Claire is aimed at 21 to 40 year olds. Company focuses mainly on British fashion with celeb interviews and pop culture articles. http://www.company.co.uk/  

Marie Claire is a more high-end fashion mag and its little wider spread with real life stories and popular psychology and science. Its tag line is “Think smart look amazing.”

http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/

I though rally enjoy a read through fashion mags, and I realize that they are far from an accurate representation of today’s women with their skinny bendy otherworldly models draped in the latest trends (this is especially true of higher end magazines).  I do not read them to see reality; it is in fact escapism for me (and window shopping) it’s the same feeling I get when I rather ashamedly watch the hills.

However (and company is particularly guilty of this) some times I feel as though these publications read as though they are out omnipresent friend, there articles are trying to be relatable and in some cases helpful and make you feel as though you are not alone with your career or man issues and this is where I believe they run into dangerous territory. Company magazine is almost interactive, constantly telling you to get there on street fashion AP and tweet them. The editor’s letter reads like you’re far away pen pals lovely letter. It makes for a friendly and endearing read.

Now as we all know this project is an objective look at the indefinable female form, and I believe that these publications constantly bombard us with the “perfect body” and present us with articles of how to get “beach body ready” and swap out tasty treats for trimming tidbits’. I believe that they are part of the  establishment that makes women feel inadequate about their bodies.

One particularly worrying thing I noticed is after you read you monthly installment of company and caught up with the friendly columnists and relatable subjects you get to the ads at the back and one of the first and biggest ones you are confronted with just two pages after reassuring lifestyle advise for young woman has the tag line

“Confidence starts with cosmetic surgery for the experts” my reaction to this was F*** me that’s wrong.

One thing I have never understood is the horrendous slightly cheaper mags that are practically bully books. Ridiculing c list celebs bodies and looks from page 1 to 100. Call me a snob but I think they are disgusting, however I am going to have to buy some if I'm going to talk about them so wish me luck and forgive me for that.

More over an advert I have seen for a version of Cosmo focused specifically on bodies… I am intrigued to say the least.

These magazines and there relationships with the body is something I will be looking at through out this project. It you have a view please let me know J. Agree, disagree, rant whatever I want to here your opinions and thoughts.  You can leave a comment or email me at donnamyoung.89@gmail.com or look me up on facebook under the name Donna m young (just leave a message letting me know that you’re a blog reader.

I will be posting my collage up soon I just need a better camera to take the picture.

I’m of to peruse this months vogue ;P

Topical

Last week in the news and in magasines i heard stories about women posing nude after having suffered from breast cancer and having their breasts removed. I loved this photo!

the above photo was found on google, i do not own the writes to it and it was not taken specifically for this project.  

Mirror Mirror

Hello all,

I’m so sorry about the delay in this blog post, I only have a dongle you see and I just got my new allowance of Internet. Any who, excuses over.

In doing this project I am often thinking on the subject of body’s and their representation. And inevitably I can’t stop thinking about my body. Now, in theory I am all for acceptance. I truly believe that when it comes to how people look everything is ok, I swear I do. I mean yes I have preferences there are those who I would consider more pretty than others but I just put that down to opinion. I believe that there is no right and wrong and all women are woman weather they have big tits no tits, hips, a belly, long hair short hair ect… however, I have a question. Why can’t I relate my acceptance to myself? I feel terribly hypocritical doing an art project about acceptance and different bodies when I can’t even accept my own body. I’m having a particularly bad week this week. The flat I live in has large mirrored wardrobes right next to where I sit and sleep. And I swear some times I want to smash them. I look massive at the moment. I know I look know different from how I looked the day before but sometimes I see myself in the mirror and I just want to claw bits of me off.

It upsets me and annoys my partner and I sound like a broken record. I’m fat; I'm ugly ECT ECT ECT.  I know that a lot of people have this and it is a horrible feeling, its like your trapped in something that makes you feel ill and anxious. Whether its because you feel fat, skinny, ugly, bald, flat chested, oddly shaped, big bummed.. The list is endless. If possible I would like this project to have the effect of helping the women involved be able to cope with those feelings better when and if they occur. I think if we see others who are “imperfect” so to speak (which I believe is every one) we will see that everyone is completely different. And yes you will still envy your friend’s tiny waste or your sister’s full chest but you’ll know and you’ll believe that your body is just fine. It will get bigger smaller it’ll perk and droop but its all just part of being human.

 NEW WORK:I’m going to start doing a series of what I suppose are simple line drawings on black card. Focusing on the shape of bodies and the lines the out lines and shadows they cast. I will post them as they are completed.

large

Hello people. so here is a video about my body, and my opinion of it. i hope it is effective, and insightful. i aim to get at least nine more of these videos by other women. if you want to make one or get involved in any way with a written entry about your own body then please get in touch. enjoy!

hey having trouble loading a video blog it will be up in the next couple of days. hope your well x

 

russian dolls (1)

I love the idea of using russian dolls to show that no two people are ever identical. More about russian dolls to come :)

It Never Stops

Something I often think about is where does the apparent lack of acceptance of our body’s come from. And I don’t mean others not accepting how you look, I mean us not accepting our own body’s. Surely if we are not happy with what we have it doesn’t matter how many others love your bits… you will still be left feeling insecure.

I hope I am not speaking out of line, I realize that as a young woman who is overweight I am a prime candidate for body insecurity, but I have noticed that all-most all woman I know have some issues with the way they look. Whether your sixteen and have just got you first glimpse of you adult form or your 60 and the aging process takes hold, I do not believe I am lying when I say most women seem insecure about something body related if not all things body related.

This got me thinking, and I have a theory. Not an answer may I stress merely a hypothesis as to why female body confidence seems to be low? All humans go though puberty. A confusing and, on reflection, a rather hilarious time where your body changes from that of a child, to an adult. All humans’ age. Sorry girls its true gravity will one day take hold for the men and us. This is absolutely natural but, for some reason society today likes us to stay young for as long as possible with creams potions and maybe even the odd nip and tuck. But as Lana Del Rays song de jour tells us; ‘we were born to die’ morbid perhaps but the only guarantee in life.

I think there is a difference for women though, in how much our bodies change and develop in comparison to how men’s do. Men go through puberty then they slowly age though time till they shuffle off this mortal coil. Women do the same we grow as a child, go through puberty and then slowly age till… well till you kick the bucket. BUT, we also go through much more every month for our fertile years we menstruate a constant cycle of changing hormones which also affects us physically in different ways. Some folk get spots, others bloat other people get incredibly depressed… the list goes on. All of these side affect of your period I believe will affect how you perceive and accept your body.

Many women have one or more children a natural yet traumatic process in which your physical appearance changes very quickly during the months of gestation. Then birth (I cannot speak from personal experience) but an event, which is natural, but does traumatize and change your body whether you deliver vaginally or with a cesarean. Then there’s the production of milk and how that affects the physical appearance of your breasts and the post baby weight that many new mothers feel pressured into losing quickly. Many women have trouble conceiving or carrying children also this will of coarse affect how you view your body. Conception and birth are amazing and challenging things and cause a lot of changes to a woman’s adult body.

Then as you age you have the menopause, on which I am not an expert, but  its another big hormonal and bodily change. A lot of women talk of there breasts sagging and something called the middle age spread (which I think men suffer with also). Also the psychological impact of realizing that you are no longer fertile would I think have an affect on how you view your physical appearance.

Essentially what I'm saying is excluding the current trend in society to dress well stay slim and avoid carbs ;).  Women never really, I think, get the chance to just have a bit of time to enjoy there adult form as it is because we go through so many changes and events all of which have the potential to be emotionally and physically traumatic although perfectly normal.

I hope this makes sense. I do realize I am a young girl passing opinion on many events I have yet to experience but I do not think I am being insensitive. I truly believe that the part of being a woman that makes us feel powerful (the ability to, with a little help from our dangling friends make babies and give birth, means that we are in a constant state of change and, in a society where looks are considered important our ever changing body’s make it difficult for us to fully relax into our appearance

That’s my theory anyway J

p.s when I was spell checking this the sentence in paragraph 7 which reads:  “Essentially what I'm saying is excluding the current trend in society to dress well stay slim and avoid carbs ;).”   The computer suggested it should read “…to dress well stay slim and avoid crabs ;).” AHHA! 

Welcome

This is an all inclusive art project for anyone who wants to join me. My name is Donna I am a 22-year-old Glaswegian contemporary theatre graduate who lives in Leeds. I am on a journey to investigate the female form and its place in today’s society and psychology.  I would like the finished product to be a gallery-based exhibition, accompanied possibly, by a live performative event.

 I want to investigate my form and shape and other women’s to present an honest portrayal of the variety of shapes and looks of women today. I strongly believe we live in vain times… I myself love nothing more than purchasing a new piece for my wardrobe or lusting over the newest trends in various magazines. However as well as an national interest in appearance, food, fashion, fitness and fads there is I believe a darker side to this trend in today’s society; Magazines full of pictures of ‘celebrities’ who are not beach body perfect, or who are ‘in crisis’ because they were seen eating cake in a high end bakery in Covent Garden.

I don’t want to criticize anyone’s body or to envy those I encounter with a flatter stomach. I just want to show variety, and dull the freak show element of the ‘imperfect’ female body.

This project is very much in the beginning stages. I read some articles, Perused high fashion publications and I have tried my hand at some sculpting and sketching. I have a lot of ideas for photographs of myself and any other women who would like to be involved but there will be more information on that as it is arranged.

If this at all interests you I ask you to be open minded and follow me (possibly even join me) on my journey looking at not just the ever changing ideal in female form but the numerous other normalities that I believe are hidden or dressed down.

All ideas and musings welcome

J