Last week Bee posted a picture for Sinful Sunday that she found personally challenging because of the way her body looked in it. This week I am joining her in that game. There is actually a great deal I like about this shot that I love but there are also parts of it that make me cringe. As a result it has been languishing on my computer as I battle with those feelings.
I love how my leg looks with the little bit of muscle definition in my calf. I like the curve on my back and the way the light is catching my shoulder. I like my pose, I think I look poised and confident. What I don’t like is the lumps and bumps around my middle and yet the truth of the matter is, well, this image quite frankly. This is what I look like, when I sit naked on a gate. Not something I do every day, but replace the gate with the sofa or the bed and you get the idea. My body is flawed and yet is it? Why would I even think that? My body is strong and healthy. It serves me every single second of every single day. I enjoy my body, I like how it feels, how it responds, it brings me (and him) untold pleasure and yet I still find myself saying it is not perfect. It is utter nonsense really when you think about it but a life time of being exposed to so-called ‘beauty’ that really looks nothing like me had my finger hovering over the delete button.
I have come to learn that deleting in haste is nearly always a mistake and so I put this image to one side, dipping in and out of the folder now and then I take another look. Each time I did I found my difficulty with it waning until finally here we are today and I am posting this shot, lumps and bumps and all, because this is what I actually look like and what I look like is pretty damn OK.
35 comments
Amazing image and wonderful words. So glad you didn’t delete it. You look amazing. And the colours in this shot are sublime! Xxx
Thank you. I am glad I didn’t delete it either. I have learned to give them time when I feel that urge because actually they often prove to be very good shots
Mollyxxx
I zoomed in to search for those lumps and bumps – all I could see were the slight folds that most people have and yours are a lot smaller than some.
I love the attitude of your pose. It definitely feels as if some delicious naughtiness is afoot. Perfection is when each person is perfectly them and this definitely shows a perfect glimpse of a side of you.
OMG you zoomed in… *falls of gate into neetles. Damn you woman!
Seriously though, thank you for the lovely comment. I know you are right and yet I think we are so harsh when it comes to judging how are our bodies look.
Mollyxxx
I scrolled to the photo before I read your words and what I saw was a confident, beautiful woman who takes stunning images of herself. Then I read your words… yes, we are our own worst critics, are we not? I understand your feelings and I understand why you wanted to delete this, but I am so glad you didn’t. You ARE beautiful!
Rebel xox
Thank you and for the record I am glad I didn’t delete it too
Mollyxxx
Good golly Miss Molly, I wish I looked this good!
I’m envious.
Both your photo here and Bee’s last week, along with the sentiments expressed on each of your posts, hit close to home for me. I’m no stranger to the self-critical voice. It’s heartening to see other women embracing their beauty and strength in all their imperfect perfection. I am striving to do the same. We all are, I think.
The composition is lovely. The muscles in your legs are a sleek, sexy focal point, and I really like how your knee echoes the upward angle on the fence design.
Thank you, I think you are right, everyone to some degree is traveling this road, which is a sad reflection on society really
Mollyxxx
It is an idyllic picture and you are brave to have posed for it and posted it. I know I’m much older than you and heavier and dissatisfied with my body – always have been even when I weighed less. Yet Sir finds me always desirable! How, I don’t understand. I have always had droopy saggy breasts which to me are unappealing. I have a c-section scar and the resulting pudgy flap of skin on my lower belly. I’m out of shape. I’m truly only happy with my flat ass and thin legs. I look at you and see a beautiful, sexy, wanton lady. Good for you!
Well I posed for myself, as I take all my own images so often I have no idea what I am getting till afterwards.
I too have that C-scar and the sag that goes with it. Damn annoying that it is. I really would encourage you to play around with your camera though and see if you can capture images of yourself that make you happy. You might surprise yourself
Mollyxxx
Cesarean section scars are badges of honor, or should be for any honorable man. Certainly on my bride (of 35 years) they are quite adorable. And a little tummy sag? Yeah, that comes with birthdays when your age in Roman numerals starts with an “L”.
All of the elements in this photo work so beautifully together! The composition is amazing, and you have taken our breath away! ~C
You look waaaaaay more than okay. You are beautiful, and this photograph – the composition, the bright pops of color with your lovely form is a wonderful representation of what makes you such a naturally striking woman.
xxx
Thank you lovely
Mollyxxx
Lovely shot. Even the most traditionally beautiful of us (which I am not *snort*) have body issues, don’t we?
And yours is so much more than “… pretty damn OK.” 🙂
Oh yes I completely agree, I don’t think anyone is truly without them
mollyxxx
An stunning picture, perceived imperfections or not, from your fantastic summer series of outdoor nature shots. Wonderful!! xx
Oh, Molly – I think this is gorgeous. We all have lumps and bumps! Your pose, the background, and your body are all beautiful. I love so much that you’re looking toward the sky, enjoying the beauty of the day – as we all should with clear blue skies.
Thank you, I do love the setting and the pose too
Mollyxxx
Ohh Molly what a beautiful picture, you are a perfect English rose
“what I look like is pretty damn OK”
You don’t give yourself enough credit. This is a lovely photo of a REAL woman, not some airbrushed siliconed bimbo. As a certified (or certifiable?) Dirty Old Man, I think you look great.
Thank you very much. I don’t think all airbrushed models are bimbos by the way. Sadly they often have no say in what happens to their image once it is taken. Many of them are just young women trying to make a living. However I totally understand why you use that term because somehow the airbrushing of their bodies gives them a false, manufactured appearance that is easily associated with the word bimbo.
Mollyxxx
You look beautiful and so feminine. Your skin glows. The colors in your hair and the clouds… This pic blew me away. There was a carefree quality in your repose that reminds me of Maxfield Parrish paintings. This is one of my favs you have ever done. Which makes me wonder if you can see the beauty. Grace and strength that I can. Xx
Newty
Oh I can see the beauty which is why I posted it. Once I got over looking at the bits that I didn’t like the whole image came to life for me
Mollyxxx
I actually see this as part of beauty, who is to judge what is perfect or not? The body is beautiful and shows life in its wonderful glory – the scenery around isn’t bad either!
I think it’s a great shot. You should make that a monthly prompt to pick a good image that we have been reluctant to print because of some body issue
A very wise woman once showed me an image which helped me to believe…
“Once you’ve accepted your flaws, no one can use them against you.” x
Your photos are always so captivating. I never give it a thought about body imperfections of others, I have issues with myself, not others. I see a beautiful woman sitting on a fence gate in a beautiful landscape somewhere surrounded by blue skies. I think that’s so creative, bold and expressing the body beautiful. You really do encourage others (like myself) to continue to step outside their insecurities and their box to be adventurous … by just sharing your lovely photos like these. 🙂
Some of the photos I’ve been proudest of are the ones that I’ve also been extremely nervous about, so I can empathise – when it comes down to it though, you look amazing here, and I absolutely love the way your bent leg is mirroring the angle of the struts on the gate. Great shot.
Oh goodness, that surprised me but I am so glad I inspired you in some small way to post something you found challenging.
I don’t see any lumps and bumps here, I just see folds of skin anyone twisting to sit would have. I do understand how you feel, we are all our own worst critics aren’t we.
Molly, this photo is so perfect, you are so perfect, that I actually teared up looking at this photo. It’s such a classically beautiful composition, countryside and resting fairy. Your legs are dancer’s legs, strong and lean and light on the gate. I adore the way your bottom almost hugs the board and the way your arm presses your breast, a gesture of allegiance to yourself, maybe. But the thing that struck me right in the heart is your face. (I too zoomed in) Your face is proud and strong and open and wonderful. It took me a moment to pin down why your face made me so emotional but I realized it reminded me of the female depictions justice and liberty that we often find on our money and in statues in public parks here in the states. This photo absolutely belongs in a museum.
All of your pictures are fabulous, but this one is particularly wonderful.
I’ve long been puzzled by the notion that anybody’s body could be flawed. To be flawed, as I understand it, is to be imperfect. That begs the question, what is perfection, as it relates to the physical form? To me, the very term seems arbitrary and perhaps irrelevant. Your body is gorgeous, and every week I am grateful that you share it with us.
Combine that with them also being things that Michael and I struggle with and the result is that I have censored myself. I think we all do it to some extent