All Articles by truth

Theresa Ruth Howard Dancer/Writer/Teacher Theresa Ruth Howard began her professional dance career with the Philadelphia Civic Ballet Company at the age of twelve. Later she joined the Dance Theatre of Harlem where she had the opportunity to travel extensively throughout the United States, Europe and Africa. She has worked with choreographer Donald Byrd as a soloist in his staging of New York City Opera's Carmina Burana, his critically acclaimed Harlem Nutcracker, as well as the controversial domestic violence work The Beast. She was invited to be a guest artist with Complexions: A Concept in their 10th anniversary season. In 2004 she became a founding member of Armitage Gone! Dance. As a writer Ms. Howard has contributed to Russell Simmons’ One World magazine (art), and The Source (social politics), as well as Pointe and Dance Magazine. While teaching in Italy for the International Dance Association she was asked to become a contributor for the premiere Italian dance magazine Expressions. Her engaging, no nonsense writing style caught the eye of both the readers of Dance Magazine and its Editor in Chief who not only made her a contributing editor and has collaborated with Ms. Howard in See and Say Web-reviews. Her articles about body image prompted her to develop a workshop for young adult (dancers and non-dancers) My Body My Image that addresses their perceptions both positive and negative about their bodies and endeavoring to bring them closer to a place of Acceptance and Appreciation. She recently launched a blog by the same name to reach a broader audience (mybodymyimage.com) As a teacher Ms. Howard has been an Artist in Residence at Hollins University in and New Haven University in addition to teaching at Sarah Lawrence College, Marymount, Shenandoah, and Radford Universities, and the historical American Dance Festival. As a result of her work at ADF Ms. Howard was invited to Sochi, Russia to adjudicate the arts competition Expectations of Europe and teach master classes, and in Burundi, Africa where she coached and taught the Burundi Dance Company. Currently she on faculty at The Ailey School but also extensively throughout Italy and Canada. Ms. Howard's belief in the development, and nurturing of children lead her to work with at risk youth. At the Jacob Riis Settlement House in Queensbridge New York, she founded S.I.S.T.A (Socially Intelligent Sisters Taking Action) a mentoring program for teen-age girls where she worked to empower them to become the creators of their destinies. In addition she developed a dance program, which lead to an exchange with the Dance Theatre of Harlem. Through her teaching and travels Ms. Howard began to observe a universal disenchantment and disconnection in teenagers that disturbed her, thus she set out to address it. Combining her philosophies of life and teaching, with the skills she garnered through outreach programs with diverse communities, she developed the personal development workshop Principles of Engagement: Connecting Youth to the Infinite Possibilities Within which gives teens a set of workable tools to increase their levels of success at tasks, and goals not only in dance, and all aspect of their lives. Theresa Ruth Howard is certainly diverse and multifaceted as an artist, and is moved to both write and create work; however she sees every student she encounters as a work in progress, and the potential to change the world one person at a time. The only was to make this world a better place it to be better people in it!

853 Articles
Uncategorized

Keira Knightly talks Misogyny and Body Image

keira-knightley-hollywood-body-obsession-slamOn the heels of Cameron Diaz making her comments about women wanting to be objectified, another Hollywood ingenue says something that make some sense (at least to My Body My Image).

Here’s what she said about it during a press junket for her new movie Anna Karenina:

“I think the pressure we put on women to either be thinner or fatter or to have longer legs or shorter legs or bigger breasts or smaller breasts is disgusting. It’s amazing in 2012 that that level of misogyny over women is still there… Particularly over young women. We pull them apart.”

Never a truer statement has been uttered. I echo her sentiment. I think that a great deal of this issue of body image has a lot to so with themisogynistic society we live in. The fact that a woman’s worth, her value is intrinsically linked with her appearance, or her sexual appeal is reductive and antiquated. The unrealistic (digitally altered) standard of beauty, along with the endless comparisons (with digitally altered and real images) and cultural, racial, weight biased concepts and presentations of beauty only add to the epidemic of body image issues that we are experiencing today. Add to that, the fact that  all marketing, and media (film, television, print magazines) tell us (through images) that only young, thin, (primarily white or light skinned) women are worthy of love, affection, admiration, longing for, or coveting is an issue. What Knightly is say is at the root of the issue. It’s like a Jedi mind trick, – the concepts that Jean Kilbourne talks about in advertising do have an effect. We see what we are “supposed” to be, measure ourselves to it and then feel badly because we fall short. Never mind that is it not a “real” image, or goal that we are striving for or comparing ourselves with. Knightly and other actresses must feel an added pressure as they are charged with actually “being” the unreal image.

“I’m a person. I’m completely flawed and nobody should look up to me as a role model. But, hopefully what I can do is make some interesting stories.”

I appreciate that she goes back to the work that she does as an actress and off of the image that is projected whether that be an image when playing a role in a film, or the character in the narrative that the tabloids create of her. In this last statement she grounds herself in her reality which is set apart from what the industry would have her to be. This is where I find that she differs from Diaz as well. Diaz, it seems, has accepted the “role” that the industry/media has assigned her, and like a good “girl” with her images, and her words supports it (you don’t what to make “daddy” mad) Knightly seems (at least here in these quotes) takes the system on, and has decided through her craft to define, or re-define herself  her self.

Kudos to her!

 

Uncategorized

I Think Cameron Diaz Got It Wrong!

1 Comment

 

“I think every woman does want to be objectified. There’s a little part of you at all times that hopes to be somewhat objectified, and I think it’s healthy,” [Esquire]

Just to be clear:

Objectification is the process by which an abstract concept is made as objective as possible in the purest sense of the term. It is also treated as if it is a concrete thing or physical object. In this sense the term is a synonym to reification.

Sexual objectification refers to the practice of regarding or treating another person merely as an instrument (object) towards one’s sexual pleasure, and a sex object is a person who is regarded simply as an object of sexual gratification. Objectification more broadly is an attitude that regards a person as a commodity or as an object for use, with little or no regard for a person’s personality or sentience.[1][2] Objectification is most commonly examined at a societal level, but can also arise at an individual level.

Ummmm No I don’t think so. I think that it might be fair to say that women want to be considered “attractive”  and yes “sexually desirable”, but I think there is a great difference between that, and full on objectification. Perhaps Diaz has that feeling because she has worked in Hollywood for so long, where your viability as a woman is directly linked to you being F-able, and if you are not then you move to another (lesser) category. There you body, your face is a commodity. However the average woman who works at Starbucks, is a receptionist, a nurse, doctor, lawyer, dentist, manager, CEO, CFO, or female executives might feel a bit differently. I doubt that neither Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State nor Condoleezza Rice she held the position, sit in meetings with the heads of nations hoping they want to bend her over the table and do her!

It does not surprise me that Cameron Diaz would harbor such a puerile notion. Where I don’t think that she is actually a bobble head (though when she says things like this I have to wonder) she has made a career of it, she is known for being the leggy California beach babe, fun loving, get the party started, pas the bong type of gal. Well that is fine when you are 20, but when you hit forty that act can wear thin, it can be considered inappropriate, at least not done with a modicum of class. Madonna tries it every now and then and even she (the grand dame) can appear desperate and sad. Diaz is a woman who is I think is feeling the wane of her Hollywood appeal, based solely on her age not on her looks, and is trying to convince herself (by convincing us) that ALL women feel this way.

Personally I would love to have men want to hear want to find the combination of what I look like and what I am saying to be a heady elixir that makes them want to get closer to see what else there is to discover about me. I would love for a man to be just as turned on by my thoughts, my views and my passions as he is with my ass. I would love for people to see me as a baklava of beauty, body, brains layers upon layers of gooey interest stuff all held together with sticky honey sweetness (and a little crunch). What woman wants to be considered limited to being just her body? Cameron needs to read My Body My Image!!!

 

Here are some other quotes form the article:

“[Photo shoots are] empowering. I’m not some young girl with the photographer going, ‘Will you take your clothes off?’ I’m like [mimes stripping], ‘How does this look?’ They’re like, ‘Today we’re not going to put anything other than bras and heels on you,’ and I’m like, ‘These heels are not high enough.’”

I’m a woman, I know how to handle myself. I know what I feel comfortable doing and I know my sexuality.”

Uncategorized

B- rocked my look Nikki Minaj and Julia Bowman

So last night at the American Music Awards Nikki Minaj walked the red carpet in a Neon Yellow Mermaid style Monique Lhuillier gown that she bought off the rack. Well of course Fashion hawks were all over the fact that Julie Bowen (of Modern Family) wore the very same dress at this year’s Emmy Awards in September. Now I hate it when fashion television shows do that “Who Wore it Best?” crap. I think that it is demeaning, and pits women against one another unnecessarily. So we won’t be going there. Instead what I would like to point out is that even though these women are worlds apart in type: one white the other black, one svelte the other curvy, well they are both blonde but I have to say that I think they both look fabulous, and the dress flatters them equally.

 

nicki minaj amaNow I am not a huge Nikki Minaj fan, and I am not one for her fashion antics, so I think that this is the most elegant that I have seen her and she pulls it off wonderfully.

nicki minaj ama I love the look on Julia as well, I think that this is a hard color for a fair skinned woman to wear and she pulls it off. She has a slight frame but the draping falls in the right places as to add volume where it needs to be to give her a more classic hourglass shape.

Where they look completely different, and great, the dress is still a character of it’s own, recognizable but not overpowering.

You see there is no reason to compare, when we can just stare— and say how beautifully individual both of these women are even in the same dress. (there is room for all of us!)

Uncategorized

P!nk IS EVERY woman: ROCKS the AMA’s

 

It never ceases to amaze me that P!nk just gets better, and better while staying true to her authentic self. Her lyrics and the images she offers to support them have always been smart, sassy, brash and empowering to women, and her performance last night was no exception. The song “Try” is about the work that goes into relationships especially when they are not going well. Relationships are not easy but if you want to create or maintain one, you, both people have to put the work in- equally. Last night the dance performance in and of itself was beautiful (choreographically and performed). Then movement was the same as in the video which made it even more amazing because (as a dancer) we all know that there are all sorts of tricks that you can play with the way you shoot ans edit dance in video and film. For her to perform that movement live- with no editing was courageous, admirable and flawless!!!
Add to that, she sung live– Who does THAT anymore? well judging from the AMA’s last night very few! I have to wonder what all the performers in the audience are thinking as they sit there and watch those canned performances, and why producers allow it? It seems to me to be a cop out, or are they admitting that all these people being glorified for their talent might not have that much, when given the opportunity to display why they are being honored, they resort to pre-taped tracks. I think that P!nk put people on notice, she not only preformed her song live, but while dancing, and not basic hip-hop commercial moves (that is not a dis, traditional stage choreography is designed so that the performer can both sing and dance at once and look and sound good, with back up dancers to keep the movement energy up while the vocalist sings). Pink singing while upside down, slamming a dude to the ground, or being slammed was a feat!

Pink gave us a performance, not a display, it raised what could have been just an award show pyrotechnic laden performance to art..

I have always been a fan of Miz Lady P!nk, but now I am not only a super fan but have much respect for her as a dance artist. I hope that she inspires other artist to take more risks and get more creative. Maybe then award shows will be watchable again! (I think that Beyonce is online now looking at the Ailey extension schedule for the next Horton class)

Uncategorized

I’ve started telling my daughters I’m beautiful- by Ariel Meadow

2 Comments

My good friend Amy De Stefano sent me this and I thought that it was wonderful. It is a blog post by Ariel Meadow the founder of Offbeat Mama which seeks to celebrate and empower families as they navigate the realities of parenting.

I’ve started telling my girls that I think I’m beautiful. It’s been so easy to tell them how beautiful THEY are, because it’s obvious. They are the thing beauty is made of. They are the reason we started worshipping beauty. They sparkle and dance. When they’re sleeping, they turn into soft cloud babies, little perfect tufts of white on the moonlight.

There are a lot of people like me. Women who know things. Women who have seen things. Women with diseases in their livers. There are a lot of women with scars on their arms and words that carry themselves like sparrows. There are women who were too big for this town, who had their backs bent carrying things like religion and a history that originated somewhere in the crook of a branch that extended over a stream. A place where a patch of the sky was visible through the leaves, where a little girl let her bare leg dangle too far down.

There are a lot of people like me, because we’re all the same. We’re all blood and electricity. We’re lonely under the gaze of god. We’re all wet with dew and swallowinghard against DO THIS, CONSUME, SHUT UP and BE AFRAID to die.

All of you women with lines on your brow, with cracks between your fingers… it’s been a long winter. All of you, you are beautiful and so am I.

The thing is, my children are perfect. I am the grown up, so I’m supposed to show them everything about life. When they wake up in the morning, though, I stare at them and they’re new. They teach me everything. They are babies and they teach me what it means to be a person. It’s easy to see that they’re beautiful.

I am slow and I am tired. I am round and sagging. I am harried. I am sexless. I am getting older.

I am beautiful. How can this be? How can any of this be true?

I don’t want my girls to be children who are perfect and then, when they start to feel like women, they remember how I thought of myself as ugly and so they will be ugly too. They will get older and their breasts will lose their shape and they will hate their bodies, because that’s what women do. That’s what mommy did. I want them to become women who remember me modeling impossible beauty. Modeling beauty in the face of a mean world, a scary world, a world where we don’t know what to make of ourselves.

“Look at me, girls!” I say to them. “Look at how beautiful I am. I feel really beautiful, today.”

I see it behind their eyes, the calculating and impression. I see it behind their shining brown eyes, how glad they are that I believe I am beautiful. They love me. To them, I am love and guidance and warm, soft blankets and early mornings. They have never doubted how wonderful I am. They have never doubted my beauty. How confusing it must have been for them to see me furrowing my brow in the mirror and sucking in my stomach and sighing.

How confusing it must have been to have me say to them, “You think I am beautiful, but you are wrong. You are small and you love me, so you’re not smart enough to know how unattractive I am. I know I am ugly because I see myself with mean eyes. You are my child and I love you, but I will not allow myself to be pretty, for you. No matter how shining you are when you watch me brushing my hair and pulling my dress over my head. No matter how much you want to be just like me, I can’t be beautiful for you and I don’t know why.”

It’s working, a little bit. I’ve even stopped hating myself, a little bit.

I’ll be what they see. They see me through eyes of love. I’d do anything for them, even this.

I am beautiful.

check out more at offbeatmama.com

Uncategorized

Keira Knightley on Body Image…Too thin, Anorexic?

Keira Knightley

 

“The anorexic stuff — all of that — it’s always going to have an impact, so I think it did hit pretty hard. Because you go, ‘Oh, maybe that’s right!’ I knew I wasn’t anorexic, but maybe my  body is somehow not right. Or my face is not right. Or the way I speak is not right,” she says. “When you’re going through a period where you’re really getting a lot of criticism, you go, ‘Maybe all this is right! You just kind of want to hide it all.'”

I have to say that I had questions about Knightley’s weight throughout the years.at times she was painfully thin. It seems to happen to a lot of young actresses and singers when they become “It” girls and are courted by brands for endorsements. The thinner they get the more offers they get and then at a point it levels off. we all know the pressures that the Hollywood body standard imposes on all who enter so it’s no wonder. Then there are all the cover shoots, editorials, and red carpet events that clothes need to be selected for and it is easier to dress stars if they are sample size (a size0-2) so it all stands to reason. When they get over the “New Girl” period and they establish themselves they seem to level off. I have no doubt that a busy schedule has something to do with it as well. But either way the wizening frame of these young ladies can be alarming. I’m glad that she is not suffering from Anorexia….

I find it interesting that the insinuation of her being anorexic might have actually given her some body image issues. The knife cuts both ways doesn’t it?

Here is what Knightley says about nudity in film and print:

“I’m quite rigorous about what gets exposed,” the British beauty says of appearing nude on film. “No bottom half! I don’t mind exposing my t-ts because they’re so small — people really aren’t that interested.”
Read more: http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-body/news/keira-knightley-poses-topless-battles-anorexia-rumors-20121311#ixzz2CDb4EWCm

Uncategorized

Oh Sandy–Our Landscape has, with once again forever been altered…

First I hope that all my East coast followers made it through the storm safely, or at least are in a safe place with power, heat, and food. Events like this certainly put things into perspective. Your health, and the well being those you love are first and foremost.  Right now we all have to take a deep breath, and find our centers, though shaken they are still there. Now we must conjure the strength to regroup and be about the business of rebuilding and finding our way through this. As New Yorkers we know how to do this. 9/11 was devastating; the loss of life was indeed our greatest loss forget real estate, businesses or revenue. In the aftermath of that horrific event I have never been so proud to be a transplanted New Yorker, the compassion, patience, generosity, and humanity that we showed one another was immeasurable, and will not be forgotten, I have no doubt that this will once again rise and we will make it through this. 

 

I live in what I have started to call The Tank of Manhattan, (Harlem in the center of the Island) When Irene hit we got little more than heavy rains, with Sandy, I barely saw rain or wind, never lost power, and was dumfounded at the images of lower Manhattan as they came in. There I sat cooped up in my apartment ready for the worst, bathtub filled, candles and flashlights at the ready, and a fridge and snack shelf burgeoning, and all I did was wait. Sandy, like the 10th plague cast upon pharaoh, past by my door. Personally, I was blessed.

 

But as is my nature, I would be remiss if I did not bring you the humor in this sad tale. Since I was on mandatory lock down flipping between CNN and Bravo (come on have you seen the Real Housewives of Atlanta: Hairdressers tell all?) I have been on a boredom, and stress eating snack rage. In the first hours of waiting for Sandy to make landfall I had to crack a bottle of vino (well that goes without saying) but where I really did damage was in my choice of comfort snacks…This is where I went awry….

 

Now because I was (like many) in a bit of denial about the severity of this storm, I did not do my normal shopping, which takes place all over the island of Manhattan: Trader Joe’s wine shop (Union Square) Trader Joes on 72nd, or Whole Foods at Columbus Circle. So when the deadline for the subway shut down happened I was left to the resources in my neighborhood. Now you Harlemites know what that can mean. Well I got Uptown from a rehearsal, and the supermarkets were overrun! Luckily I am a girl with a pantry and I love Costco so I technically had enough supplies, but there is something about a disaster that makes you want to buy more shit. However I did need candles and snacks! I usually opt for some healthier choices from Trader Joes and I love some old school popped popcorn, however these items were out of stock in my house. So I was left to what my local bodegas and dollar stores had in stock, and you know what that means…

 

Pre Sandy I found myself munching on a bag of cheese puffs (yes I said cheese puffs—I’m not proud, of it but I am coming clean) but wait, I mixed them with pretzels… so goooood, so baaaad. So that was the first night. In the wake of the storm and the reality that life was forever changed here (for a while), there would be no going to work, there would be no trip to Philly to teach at UArts (holla) and back the same after noon to teach a pointe class at Ailey. There would be no nothin’, just me, my dog Chou Chou, the Internet, cable and my snacks. With nowhere to go, I wore a path between my desk, my couch, and my fridge. I could feel the bloat creep up like the water over the FDR. You know that “Bathing Optional” status that is instituted when you are home alone, and not going anywhere, and you will not be seen, oh that was in full effect! (At leas I had water…) I was a stir-crazy mess.

 

The one shining light was that I had taken the day before the storm to clean my apartment, my thought being “If I’m going to have to be in here with myself for God knows how long, I should feel good about where I am.” Depression flourishes in dirt! So that was a good thing. I didn’t get much “work” done because I was really sort of paralyzed with the unknown that was Sandy, I was glued to CNN and other news outlets trying to get my head around what was happening…I’m still working on that, I think we all are.

 

On Wednesday my bestie, April finally made it to my house; she lives in Lower Manhattan and was without power, or water. She was a hot mess rolling up in here. After dragging a bag down 14 flights of stairs, she was lucky enough to get a ride to my house, but fought through gridlock traffic to do so. I jokingly said that she was suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. And in a way, although I was joking I realized that in truth she was, as all of us here on this Coast are. People are homeless, without power, food, water, transportation, and work. We are in a bizarre state of stasis, in the middle of our lives knowing that at some point we will re-enter but we have no idea when, and what our worlds will look like in the aftermath. Even those who have not suffered direct personal loss or displacement we are affected. Many have lost wages, or may not have jobs to go back to, the loss of a vehicle could mean a game change to some people’s livelihoods… we all energetically carrying this tragedy. I had the same feeling after 9/11. There was always less than 2 degrees of separation between you and “it”. If you did not personally lose someone, there was at least one person you knew who did, or lost a portion of their lives that fateful day.

 

Here on the East Coast, our landscape has once again, in one fell swoop, been altered, swept out to sea, submerged, blown away, erased…We can no longer take for granted that our favorite restaurant, or boutique in The Village or the Lower East Side might be there when the smoke- or rather the water clears.  When we can all move about freely, there will for months, even years be those moments when we are walking and stumble upon a place of what used to be and think “Remember when that was…?” or “Wasn’t that the…?” Whatever it was might well be gone, but surely something else will have sprung up in its place. Like the Dove returning with the Olive Leaf, life will spring forth again….

Uncategorized

Stella Boonshoft asks —Do you want to know why she took this Pic?

3 Comments

Via: This post originally appeared on Stella Boonshoft’s Tumblr, The Body Love Blog.

WARNING: Picture might be considered obscene because subject is not thin. And we all know that only skinny people can show their stomachs and celebrate themselves. Well I’m not going to stand for that. This is my body. Not yours. MINE. Meaning the choices I make about it, are none of your f*cking business. Meaning my size, IS NONE OF YOUR F*CKING BUSINESS.

If my big belly and fat arms and stretch marks and thick thighs offend you, then that’s okay. I’m not going to hide my body and my being to benefit your delicate sensitivities.

stella
This picture is for the strange man at my nanny’s church who told me my belly was too big when I was five.

This picture is for my horseback riding trainer telling me I was too fat when I was nine.

This picture is for the girl from summer camp who told me I’d be really pretty if I just lost a few pounds

This picture is for all the f*cking stupid advertising agents who are selling us cream to get rid of our stretch marks, a perfectly normal thing most people have (I got mine during puberty)

This picture is for the boy at the party who told me I looked like a beached whale.

This picture is for Emily from middle school, who bullied me incessantly, made mocking videos about me, sent me nasty emails, and called me “lard”. She made me feel like I didn’t deserve to exist. Just because I happened to be bigger than her. I was 12. And she continued to bully me via social media into high school.

MOST OF ALL, this picture is for me. For the girl who hated her body so much she took extreme measures to try to change it. Who cried for hours over the fact she would never be thin. Who was teased and tormented and hurt just for being who she was.

I’m so over that.

THIS IS MY BODY, DEAL WITH IT.

Uncategorized

Artist Jason Freeny’s TRULY Anatomical Barbie shows what her proportions would mean to her organs!

BarbieThis is kinda freaky and kinds cool…We all know that Mz. Barbie would look like an alien  were she a real person, standing  six feet tall with a 39″ bust, 18″ waist, and 33″ hips. We know that there are some women how have become so enamored with her that they have gone to insane measures (and procedures) to look like her and have even projected their obsessions on to their daughters. Perhaps this new version of the American Doll might give us all pause!

Via UK Daily Mail:

Artist Jason Freeny has given Barbie a unique makeover – and it’s sure to make you think again about the doll’s unrealistic vital statistics.

Barbie’s innards and organs are shown squashed and distorted – depicting the effect her warped proportions might have on the inside of her body.

The world’s most famous doll has long been the target of criticism from feminists and other women’s groups who say it promotes an unhealthy idea of body image in girls.

While Barbie’s vital statistics have never officially been revealed, they have been estimated at being the human equivalent of 5ft 9in, a 36-inch bust with an 18-inch waist and 33-inch hips.

Barbie profile
barbie anatomy

It has been estimated that, if she were to exist as a human, Barbie would weigh about 110lbs and would have a BMI of 16.24. This would fit the weight criteria for anorexia.

It has been feared that girls attempting to emulate Barbie’s proportions could be at risk of developing eating disorders.

The New York-based designer said he chose the doll because of her unusual proportions.

He said: ‘I like to see the skeletal system and organs of the body when the features are distorted.’

Jason has also turned his attentions to other iconic toys and given them the dissection treatment, such as models of Hello Kitty and Mickey Mouse.

He added: ‘I like all my work but my favorite is the first one where I showed the inside of a dog made with a balloon.’

Jason began experimenting with fictional anatomy illustration in 2000 which evolved into sculpture 10 years later.

His unique style comes from blending his previous experience as a toy designer with his work as a digital designer. His sculptures are described as a surreal mixture of innocence clashing with maturity.

He is now said to be considering giving Barbie’s long-term love, Ken, the dissection treatment.