Embrace – One Woman’s Journey to Inspire EveryBody

Embrace - One Woman's Journey to Inspire EveryBody www.minitravellers.co.uk

Embrace is One Woman’s Journey to Inspire EveryBody to be proud of their body.

A few weeks ago a friend of mine wrote a blog post about a documentary called Embrace, then she tweeted me, messaged me and waxed ever so lyrically about how amazing this documentary was. You know what it’s like when someone has seen something you haven’t (Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Dr Foster), you simply don’t get their enthusiasm. Maybe you haven’t the time to be excited at that particular moment, maybe you wonder whether it is really all that, sometimes you don’t really listen and sometime you listen but you don’t actually hear them.

Well this friend didn’t stop talking about Embrace, and more than that she put on a screening of it in Chester (2 nights actually) and invited me to come along and watch.  As the screening was combined with dinner at a lovely French restaurant I thought why on earth not.

I cried, I laughed, I was horrified and disgusted, I was inspired and I started to reflect

I haven’t written about the film before now because I wasn’t quite sure what to say, to be honest I’m still not.  I’m not sure it is really the sort of film you can describe, but I know that I want everyone to see it.  More importantly when they are old enough I want my three girls to see it.

Embrace contains some fairly striking scenes including pictures of different vulvas, disturbing scenes from Grand Theft Auto of men having sex with prostitutes and then killing them, boobs of all types, anorexia discussions but the most poignant thing for me was the street scenes;  all of us walking down the street all day every day just seeing pictures in windows, on tubes, on buses on the screen of thin (apparently happy) women!  It’s the thin happy image that we are shown day in day out to aspire to.

The documentary explores the global culture of body loathing and body shaming that has spread and is spreading at a frightening rate. The films tag line is one woman’s journey to inspire everybody – and on Monday night in Chester the screening inspired everyone in the room, the silence whilst the film was on, and the occasional gasps of horror and sobs was incredibly powerful.

As someone who hasn’t be ‘thin’ for some time, and who worries about their appearance more now than I ever did, it was an eye-opener.  Embrace compelled you to ask what do you see when you see others – do you see fat or thin, ugly or pretty – or do you see your friend, sister, colleague, daughter.  It was the daughter part that got to me too – do I want them to feel that they have to be thin? Healthy  – yes absolutely. Happy – yes absolutely. But thin – no thin isn’t an aim I have for my children.

The message in the documentary is why are you a body hater? Why do you care what you ‘should’ look like if you are loved by everyone around you. Why be unhappy about the wobble or the stretchmarks or the bad hair that day.  Why worry?  Why care? Why not simply enjoy being you.

Why let something that you know is so unimportant to you in others, worry you? Why let it knock your self confidence

I do this all the time. I look at photos like this one and see a double chin, lines near my eyes that weren’t there a few years ago and a few greying hairs – but if I look again – and I look properly then I see someone having a proper good giggle with some friends and someone who is happy – so why why why do we naturally criticise and worry.

Embrace - One Woman's Journey to Inspire EveryBody www.minitravellers.co.uk

Taryn established the Body Image Movement in her home country of Australia – their goal is to get women around the world to say NO to…

  • Excessive “Photoshopping” of body images in the media
  • Being programmed by the media and corporations into accepting unrealistic body images
  • Prescribing to the notion that being a certain weight determines whether you’re healthy
  • Sexualisation of girls in the media and modern culture
  • The objectification of women
  • Society and advertising preying on women’s insecurities

but why not start simply by watching the trailer for this inspiring film and if you want to learn more about it, and find out how to put on a screening of the film near you, then you can join the facebook group here too! https://www.facebook.com/groups/128503344408471/

 

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