Skorch
Vol.12 Issue 10 nov/dec 2016 | SKORCHMAG.COM | 43
SUBMISSION
beautiful Brazilian bodies (or should
I say ‘booties’). Think of Brazilian
Carnival. Beautiful women, voluptuous
and scantily-clad - if all but for the
enormous feathery headdresses. Big
smiles, round bottoms, and
big attitude!
Although I feel at times out of place
amongst these naturally bubbly,
buxom, beauty queens, I find myself
finding myself all over again as I adapt
to the culture and way of life here.
My body, like us all, has gone through
many changes throughout my life. But
is where I stand now the only decider
of how I should express myself, and
the body image I should convey? Can
I adapt my cultural ideals and body
image to find the Brazilian within me?
I used to be a big girl, after I was a
little girl. I grew up in a relatively
small, predominantly white suburban
neighbourhood in NZ. I suffered from
Can you
put a label
on your
unique
self?
extreme anxiety and depression at
a young age, and medication and
puberty hit me hard like a cold fish
to the face when I was nine or ten
years old. Into my teens my weight
ballooned, but I always had good
friends who loved me, and although I
knew I was ‘the big girl’, I’m not sure
I fully identified with the ‘big-girl’
body image. I guess I have always felt
like my perceived image of myself is
Skorch